The Plunge
by Ryo314
Summary: An accident brings Perry and JD closer...a lot closer.
1. Chapter I: The Hook Up

Title: The Plunge

Author: Ryo314

Rating: T

Spoilers: None

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters nor the concept of Scrubs.

Summary: An accident brings Perry and JD closer...a lot closer.

Note: So this is my second _Scrubs _story, and yes, it is a slash. I can't guarantee how structured my postings will be because the story is only one third the way written. Chapter two will be posted on 11/10/08.

**Warning: **This is a slash story: JD/Perry. If you do not like these stories, please stop reading because all flames based on the fact this is a slash story will be cruelly mocked along with their flamer in the next chapter.

**The Plunge**

Chapter I: The Hook Up

"_We adore chaos because we love to produce order." M.C. Escher_

The trip up had not been easy, and the wind that blew against her was freezing; her cheeks and her nose both had to be as red as Rudolph's on Christmas Eve. She looked down at the ground, probably not the best idea considering what she was about to do. The ground had to be at least one hundred feet below her. She couldn't believe she was doing this...well doing this again.

Her arm was linked with her roommate's boyfriend; it was technically his idea to this. Her roommate was on the far end. She had joked before they went up that their lives were in her roommate's hands.

With one finally jerk, their ride up was complete. Now, she waited.

"Three...two...one...fly!" a voice shouted from the loud speaker behind them.

One second...two seconds...three seconds. They were still up in the air. Why were they still up in the air?!

"Pull it, Jamie!" she shouted, not even sure if her roommate could hear her.

There was no sound to signal that the cord had been pulled. All there was to show that the cord had been pulled was this amazing feeling. For one brief, terrifying, and astounding second, she felt completely weightless, then they started falling toward the earth. Just as it looked like they were going to strike the ground, the rope they were on went taut, they swung up over the ticket booth and path of the amusement park. The three of them finally unhooked their arms as they swung back up to the tower they had just been released from. Her roommate's boyfriend had his arms out like a superhero, she couldn't see what her roommate was doing, and she was waving to the people in line for the roller coaster next to where they were.

She had forgotten how much fun things like this were; when she was young, she had been petrified of doing anything that even looked remotely dangerous. Now, at age nineteen, she was finally doing all those things she had been afraid to do when little, even with her family right there next to her. It seemed that being hundreds of miles away from her family had finally given her the bravery she had always been looking for. It was similar to the weightless feeling she felt at the beginning of her plunge.

One thing she needed to remember after she got off the ride was that she needed to get something to drink so she could take her medication.

XVIIIIV

"Perry!" shouted a horribly familiar voice. "Just the man I wanted to see."

Perry sighed; his day was not starting off well. "Well, Bobbo, I can't tell you how far down you are on the list of people I want to see." Perry turned to face the chief of medicine. "In fact, you're not even on it."

Dr. Kelso gave an obviously fake laugh. "Ah...good one as usual."

Something was wrong, very wrong. If Bob Kelso was telling him that he had made a good joke, then there was something very, very wrong. A line from the second Indiana Jones movie popped into his head. "_Cover your heart!"_

"You know, I would usually try and come up with something else to say, but the fact that you just told me I made a good joke actually has me worried, so I am just going to walk away."

"Well, before you do, I have a favor to ask of you."

"Blow it out your ass, Bob." Perry turned around to walk away.

"And when I said favor, I meant job, and when I said ask, I meant order."

Perry sighed. No, it was definitely not going to be a good day. He slowly turned back around. "Which layer of Hell do you plan on sending me to?"

"Seattle."

"I didn't realize Seattle was part of Hell."

"It's not, but it is the location of a very important medical conference."

"Oh yeah. What's the name of it?"

"The Hell if I remember."

Perry rolled his eyes. "What does this have to do with me, BeelzeBob?"

A very smug smirk made its way onto Dr. Kelso's face. "You're going."

"No, I'm not."

"You can either go to this conference, or you can deal with Mr. Mitchum."

"Mr. Mitchum?"

"He's the hypochondriac in room 125; he has some acute respiratory problems that he is panicking about."

Perry thought to himself. "_Annoying hypochondriac or annoying conference. If I go to the conference, at least I'll get to the leave the hospital."_

"Ok, Bobbo. I'll go to your damn conference."

"Good, good. You'll need to leave around two."

"Today?"

"Yeah. I kind of forgot about the damn thing until about an hour ago. Apparently I told Ted to send some sort of reply after I was informed about it, and then I just forget." Dr. Kelso began to walk away but then turned back around. "By the way, you'll be taking Dr. Dorian."

Perry's eyes went wide. "What!?"

"Yeah. It's important that we look like we care about the young doctors that are working now days or something like that." Dr. Kelso paused for a moment, and then gave Perry the smug smile again. "Have fun."

"You can't make me take Beatrice to this conference."

"Too late," said Dr. Kelso, continuing to walk away. "You already agreed. Plus, I've already found people to cover your and Dr. Dorian's shifts."

"I would rather eat my own foot than go to Seattle with Newbie."

"As much as I would like to see that, Perry, it will be very hard for you to drive without your foot." Dr. Kelso turned the corner, and Perry slammed his hand against the wall startling a nurse who was walking out of a patient's room.

There were a lot of reasons why Perry didn't want to go to the conference with JD. Hell, there were a lot of reasons why he didn't want to go to the conference at all, but it was too late for that. For one, it was Newbie, and he did not want to sit in a car for two hours with Newbie. Two, the kid was annoying. And three, he had a nice ass.

Perry, who had been walking down the hall, stopped dead in his tracks when he got to that reason. "_Did I seriously just think that? Come on, Perry, get yourself back under control. You've kept this all in check for the last few months, you can keep it in check now." _Granted, the last few months he hadn't been cramped up in a car with Newbie.

"_I can do this"_ Perry thought to himself. "_I can do this."_

XVIIIIV

"Carla, did you take Mrs. Daniels' vitals? She's in room 125." JD asked, staring at the clipboard as he walked up to the nurse's station.

"Yes, I did Bambi. You should have them."

"I know, but I can't find them anywhere." JD looked up from the chart and spotted the Janitor just down the hall. A familiar piece of paper was taped to the front of his cleaning cart. JD set his clipboard on the nurse's station and walked over to the Janitor.

"Are those Mrs. Daniels' vitals?" JD pointed to the paper taped to the cart.

"What? Just because I'm a janitor means I can't have anything official looking on my cart?"

"It says Francine Daniels," JD pointed out.

"Oh yeah. I was going to use it to line my parrot's cage." The Janitor gave him a smirk.

"Do you even have a parrot?"

"What? Just because I am a janitor means I can't afford to have a parrot as a pet? You doctors make me sick."

"Do you have a parrot?"

The Janitor shook his head. "No."

JD sighed and took the paper from the cart, ripping the top slightly, and made his way back to the nurse's station. Behind him, JD could hear the Janitor muttering that there was no reason to be rude. "Got it," JD said to Carla, clipping the paper to the board.

Carla shook her head and then looked down at the desk to hide the smile that had slipped onto her face. Although a majority of the time she found the Janitor odd and annoying, the banter that had just gone on between him and JD had been somewhat entertaining.

Carla lifted her head again and was about to say something to JD when familiar and loud voice cut her off. "Delores, just the girl I was looking for!" Carla sighed as she and JD both turned toward Dr. Cox.

"What is it, Dr. Cox?" said JD in his usual happy, carefree voice.

"You and I are going to a conference in Seattle." JD smiled. "Don't give me that look. It wasn't my idea to take you. I had no choice. It was all Bobbo's, a.k.a. Satan's, doing."

"Why me?" asked JD.

"How should I know?" demanded Dr. Cox, obviously annoyed. "How am I supposed to know what goes on in that senile bastard's head?"

"Well...um..." JD couldn't think of a response, but instead slipped into a daydream. For one brief moment, he was surrounded by flames and interns that were running around screaming. JD shook his head suddenly, coming out of the daydream.

"Nice to have you back from whatever fantasy in which you were imagining the BackStreet Boys in their underwear, Delilah. Now, can you pay attention to what I'm saying?"

"I'm sorry," said JD. "What did you say?"

"I said we leave at two, and don't be late because I will leave without you."

"I'm still on shift at two."

"Dr. Kelso already arranged for out shifts to be covered."

"Okay," said JD with a shrug. He smiled. "I'll be ready." JD picked the clipboard up off the nurse's station and walked down the hall.

_I get to go to a conference with Dr. Cox! Yes! Maybe we'll actually get to talk when we're driving up there. Maybe he'll see me for who I really am. Maybe he won't call me girl names. That would be so cool. I wonder if Turk would be weirded out if I told him how excited I was about this?_

XVIIIIV

Perry liked JD's smile, and he hated that fact. "_Dammit, Bob! Dammit, Newbie!" _Perry shook his head and then turned to face Carla, who was staring at him.

"What?" demanded Perry as he began to walk down the hall; Carla followed.

"Dr. Kelso talked you into taking JD to a medical conference?"

"No. He forced me into taking Newbie to a medical conference. Do you think I want to be cooped up in a car with Janice for two hours as we drive to Seattle? I think that is more your boyfriend's idea of fun. I don't want Newbie within a block of my car."

"Just go easy on Bambi; it's not his fault Dr. Kelso made you take him."

"Yes, but chances are Newbie will still be annoying none the less." Perry paused for a moment. "He doesn't like to do car trip singalongs, does he?"

Carla rolled his eyes. "Just remember, you may be able to torture Bambi while you're at the conference, but you will have to pay for whatever you to him when you get back."

"Oh yeah. Who's gonna make me?" Carla crossed her arms and glared at him. "Right."

As the two of them walked down the hall, Perry was glancing absently at the names outside the rooms. One of them caught his eye.

"I thought there was supposed to be a Mr. Mitchum in room 125," said Perry, staring at the name outside the door. "Who is Francine Daniels?"

Carla shook her head. "Mrs. Daniels has been in room 125 for the last few days. I don't know who you're talking about."

"Kelso told me there was a patient with respiratory problems named Mitchum in room 125."

"Mitchum? Like Robert Mitchum, the actor from the fifties and sixties?"

Perry clenched his teeth in anger; he had to get Kelso back when he returned from the conference.

XVIIIIV

When JD had left his and Turk's apartment that morning, the weather report said there was a slight chance of showers. It seemed so cliché that the weatherman had been wrong. The sky was dark and cloudy at only two in the afternoon, and it looked like it was going to pour down rain at any second.

JD had about an hour to get back to his apartment and pack a bag before having to be back at the hospital to meet Dr. Cox. The conference would start that night and end the next day. JD walked back into the hospital and saw Dr. Cox standing with his arms crossed in the entryway of the hospital; he looked unhappy, but that was a pretty normal occurrence.

"You ready?" asked JD as he walked up to him. He gave Dr. Cox a smile, but that only seemed to annoy the older doctor more.

Dr. Cox rolled his eyes and started to walk toward the hospital doors. "You got your feetie pajamas all packed up there, Cindy?"

JD scoffed. "I don't-don't have feetie pajamas." JD knew he would now be sleeping in his jeans that night.

"Did you make sure you went to the bathroom? I know you have a tiny tank, Barbie."

"Um...well..."

"Whatever, Newbie."

JD adjusted the strap of his bag and followed Dr. Cox. They walked across the parking lot to Dr. Cox's car.

"Wait. I get to ride in your car?"

Dr. Cox let out an annoyed sigh. "If you keep talking Julie, I'm just going to pull you from behind the car."

JD quickly shut his mouth as Dr. Cox popped open the trunk of his car. "Put your bag in there, get in the car, and keep your mouth shut for the next two hours. If you can manage that Newbie, both of us will get through this with minimal emotional scars, kay?"

JD nodded blankly and set his bag in the trunk. He reached to close the trunk, but Dr. Cox slapped his hand. "You are allowed to touch the door handle and no other parts of my car. Got that, Newbie?"

Dr. Cox slammed the trunk shut, and the two of them got into the car. "_Okay, I know I said I have to try and keep everything in check with Newbie around, but that doesn't necessarily mean I have to be such as ass." _Perry's thoughts stopped as he started up the car. "_That's odd. I'm feeling guilt; I thought Jordan ripped all human emotions out of me during the divorce." _With a sigh, Perry drove out of the parking lot.

XVIIIIV

They had been on the road for about half an hour, and JD knew the situation was already grinding on Dr. Cox's nerves. JD knew that Dr. Cox didn't want to go to the conference or have him with him, and to add insult to injury, it had begun pouring down rain about twenty minutes ago.

Well...pouring was an understatement. Buckets of water seemed to be crashing to the earth everywhere, lightning was illuminating the sky, thunder was accompanying the lightning, and there was very little visibility. Looking over at Dr. Cox and seeing that he was gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles had turned white, JD wondered if they should even still be driving. No one else was on the highway they were driving down. JD decided to voice as much to Dr. Cox, breaking the silence that had been going on for thirty minutes: a new record for JD.

"Um...Dr. Cox, are you sure we should be trying to drive through this?"

Dr. Cox sighed in annoyance. "Hannah, you're doing that thing."

"What thing?"

"Talking."

_I walked right into that one._

"I'm just saying it looks kinds of dangerous out."

"I thought we agreed you wouldn't talk, Newbie."

"Maybe we should pull over for a little while."

"Are you scared of a little storm, Jadian?"

_Jadian? Now that's a new one._

"No." A bolt of lightening lit up the sky followed by a crack of thunder that made both JD and Dr. Cox start.

"Look, Newbie. If we stop, we're not going to make it to the damn conference on time, and I am not pulling over along the highway in this weather. There's a good chance that if anyone came they wouldn't see us, and they'd wreck my car. Besides, this car was not made to get out of muddy ditches."

"Dr. Cox-"

Dr. Cox turned toward JD. "We are not stopping. Is that clear, Newbie?"

JD didn't answer his question; instead, a look of shear panic came over his face. "Dr. Cox!" JD shouted as he pointed forward.

Dr. Cox turned back toward the road and saw there was a bend in the road and that his car was going right off the pavement.

Turning the wheel desperately to the right, Dr. Cox tried to get the car to stay on the road. The wheels couldn't find any traction, and for a terrifying moment, JD thought they were going to take a nosedive into the ditch. At the last moment, the wheels grabbed hold of the asphalt, and the car was momentarily under control.

Both doctors thought they were in the clear when JD saw something terrifying up ahead. The low bridge that was part of the highway seemed to be missing, and the small car was heading straight for a very angry looking river.

Dr. Cox slammed on the breaks just as JD shouted, but the wheels couldn't stop on the rain soaked highway. The car went into the water and stopped abruptly when it hit a partially submerged fallen tree.

XVIIIIV

Okay, I know the very beginning of this story doesn't have much to do with the rest, but it will make sense later in the story. I hope you all enjoyed the story. The next chapter will be posted next Monday (11/10/08). Read and review.


	2. Chapter II: The Floor Falls Out

Title: The Plunge

Author: Ryo314

Rating: T

Spoilers: None

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters nor the concept of Scrubs.

Summary: An accident brings Perry and JD closer...a lot closer.

Note: I feel horrible because I forgot to thank Wolfie for being an awesome beta once again. Everyone: Wolfie Rocks! The next chapter should be up 11/17/08.

**Warning: **This is a slash story: JD/Perry. If you do not like these stories, please stop reading because all flames based on the fact this is a slash story will be cruelly mocked along with their flamer in the next chapter.

**The Plunge**

Chapter II: The Floor Falls Out

"_Anything I've ever done that ultimately was worthwhile...initially scared me to death." Betty Bender_

Perry's return to consciousness was not pleasant. He was cold, his shoulders ached, and his head hurt. Well, that last one was an understatement; his head felt like it was going to explode. As he slowly gained more of his senses, Perry became aware of an odd pressure going across his chest and a cold that was slowly moving up his body.

"_What happened?"_ Perry thought as he slowly opened his eyes. He was staring at his steering wheel, and water was lapping around his calves, but the world around him seemed to be tilted. Realization suddenly dawned on him. "We wrecked!" Perry shouted in a hoarse voice. "Into the river! Newbie!?"

Perry quickly turned his head, aggravating the pain in his shoulders and causing his vision to swim, and stared at the limp figure in the passenger's seat. JD was slumped like a rag doll against his seatbelt, a jagged gash making its way across his forehead. The car had struck the water at angle causing the water level in the car to be uneven; while it was only hitting Perry's knees, it was already up around JD's chest.

"_We have to get out of here!"_ Perry unhooked his seatbelt, which caused his already aching body to fall against the steering wheel. With a tremendous amount of effort, Perry pushed himself up and moved over to JD. For a second, his vision darkened, but after a moment, he regained control of his eyesight.

"JD," said Perry, gently lifting the younger doctor's head; blood was also dripping from his nose. "JD!?" He got no response.

With a shaking hand, Perry checked JD's pulse. He found a fast but steady beat and breathed a sighed of relief. Looking around the small car, which was quickly becoming a prison of water, Perry knew they had to get out. Deciding that leaving JD hooked in would keep his head above water, Perry made his way back over to the driver's side and tried to open the door, but the water on the outside was keeping it shut. "_This is bad!"_

Perry looked around frantically and saw that the back window had somehow shattered during the crash. Standing on the dash and nearly loosing his balance, Perry jammed his elbow into the window causing the broken glass to fall from the frame. He closed his eyes to keep the glass out of them and then turned back to JD. Perry panicked when he saw the water was now up around JD's face. Perry slipped back down to the front seat and rested his knees on the dashboard. At the moment, he was cursing himself for having such a small car.

As he gently lifted JD's head above the water, Perry searched for the seatbelt buckle. It took a moment, but Perry finally managed to get the damn thing unhooked. Catching the unconscious JD, Perry carefully made his way to the newly broken back window. It wasn't an easy task, but Perry managed to get them both out of the wrecked car.

Setting JD on the rain soaked ground, Perry checked the younger doctor's pulse. Fear surged through him when he couldn't find one. Dammit! He was only under for a minute at most.

"Dammit, Newbie!" Perry tilted JD's head back and made sure his airway was clear. Without hesitation, Perry started CPR.

"_This...one...two...three...cannot be...four....five...breath....happening....Come on...one...two...three...Newbie...four...five...breath...Please...Newbie...one...two...three ...four...five...please! Breathe!"_

Suddenly, JD started coughing and instinctively turned on his side, and Perry held his shoulder so he didn't fall back. "JD!" said Perry, his voice full of worry. "JD, can you hear me?"

JD coughed up another mouthful of water and then rolled back onto his back. He looked up at Perry, obviously confused. "What-what..." JD coughed up some more water. "What hap-happened?"

"We wrecked, Newbie. Turns out, you were right which I am only saying because you look so damn miserable."

JD squinted his eyes, probably to keep the rain out of his eyes, and then reached up toward Perry's forehead. "You-you're bleeding..."

Perry reached up to his head, brushing past JD's hand, and felt a long gash on his head. He pulled his hand away and watched as the rain washed away the blood. "I'm a little more concerned about you, Newbie."

"You-you are?"

Perry couldn't take it anymore. Leaning down quickly, Perry captured JD's lips with his own. For a moment, JD seemed stunned, but the younger man quickly gave in. The kiss continued for a moment until JD tensed up and abruptly pulled away. At first, Perry thought it was because JD was uncomfortable, but only seconds after breaking the kiss, JD rolled back to his side and coughed up more water.

"You kissed me," mumbled JD as he turned back toward Perry.

"At least you're coherent enough to registrar that," said Perry, slowly checking JD over for further injuries. "Can you tell me what hurts?"

"Everything."

"Be a little more specific, Andrea. You're a doctor."

"I think my right wrist may be broken."

Perry nodded and gently took hold of JD's right arm; he was very aware of the slight wince JD gave. His wrist had begun to swell, and Perry suspected that the younger doctor's diagnosis was correct. "We need to get you to a hospital."

"What abou-about you?"

"Chances are I'll be heading there with you." Perry set a comforting had on JD's shoulder and reached into his pocket. He knew full well that neither of them would survive out in the weather long with their injuries. Both of them had head injuries and there was a good chance that hypothermia was already settling in. It was late November, meaning that the rain and the river were unbearably cold, and the temperature outside was hardly above freezing.

For a brief second, Perry found himself praying as he pulled out his cellphone. There was a damn good chance that it wasn't going to be working, but Perry thanked the god he didn't believe in when he saw that not only was the phone still working, but it had signal.

For a moment, the numbers swam in front of his eyes, but after a few blinks, Perry could see straight again. Dialing quickly, Perry called the closest hospital to their location: Sacred Heart.

"This is Dr. Cox! I need an ambulance quick; there's been a wreck." Perry looked around, assisted by a bolt of lightening, and then gave the receiver his best guess at his location. "Dr. Dorian is with me. Broken wrist, head injury, and possible hypothermia." He paused for a moment. "Hurry!"

Pressing the end button hard to vent some of his anger, Perry shoved the phone back into his pocket and turned his attention back to JD. The younger doctor's eyes had slipped shut, and Perry nearly panicked. "JD!" Perry shouted, giving JD's shoulder a gentle shake. "Newbie!"

JD's eyes snapped open, and he stared up at Perry. "'m cold," muttered JD.

"_So am I," _thought Perry, but for the moment, he kept that to himself. "I know, JD, but an ambulance is on its way."

"Sleepy." JD started to close his eyes, but Perry shook his again.

"Stay awake, Newbie. You know how dangerous it is to sleep with a head injury."

"You too."

"Yeah, but I'm not the one falling asleep."

JD shook his head. "You the one...kissed me." JD's brow creased in confusion. "Why did...kiss me?"

"Please, Newbie, can we discuss that when you aren't so out of it...or never?"

JD shook his head again and then began struggling to sit up.

"What are you doing, JD?" said Perry, gently taking hold of JD's shoulder when it looked as though he was going to fall. JD ignored him and threw his arms around Perry's neck. The older doctor couldn't help but notice how cold JD's lips were as they pressed against his, but at the same time, Perry didn't care. The kiss went on for nearly a minute, and then JD finally pulled away for air. Perry, however, didn't set him back on the ground though. Instead, he held him.

If anyone asked later, Perry would say it was to try and keep the poor kid warm, but both Perry and JD both knew the real reason deep down. As Perry sat along the side of the river holding JD, they both vaguely noticed that the storm was slowly stopping.

XVIIIIV

JD had lost consciousness about ten minutes before the ambulance arrived, but Perry had continued to hold him despite that fact. He finally laid him back down on the ground when he heard the sirens of the ambulance and struggled to his feet so he could wave the ambulance down. He breathed a sigh of relief when the ambulance stopped.

"He's over here!" Perry shouted as the EMTs jumped from the back of the ambulance carrying their supplies. He led them over to where JD lay on the ground and then stepped back to let them do their work. Perry wanted to be helping, but the rational voice in the back of his head, which rarely saw the light of day, told him that he would be no help to JD in the condition he was in.

"How long has he been unconscious?" asked one of the EMTs, a short brunette girl.

"About ten minutes. I-I had him talking for a while before that. He wasn't breathing earlier; he swallowed a lot of water."

While the brunette dealt with JD, the other EMT, a tall blond guy, turned his attention to Perry. "Have you been having any nausea, dizziness, pain?" the EMT asked as he forced Perry to sit down on the ground.

"I was in a car wreck!" shouted Perry. "My entire body is in pain!"

"You can add irritability to that," mumbled the brunette behind them.

The two EMTs continued talking, and Perry suddenly became aware of every ache and pain in his body, the burning in his shoulders, and just how cold he felt. He realized that the adrenalin he had from taking care of JD was wearing off, and his body was giving in to its injuries.

"Dr. Cox!?" shouted the blond EMT. "Dr. Cox?!"

Perry couldn't force himself to respond as the edges of his vision darkened dramatically. He was never aware of his back striking the ground or the blond EMT frantically starting in on emergency procedures.

XVIIIIV

JD was floating; it was a nice feeling. What was even better about it was that it was warm. He couldn't quite remember what had happened earlier, but he did remember that he had been cold. Why had he been so cold?

JD slowly became aware of a distant voice calling to him. "Bambi..." There was a pause. "Bambi...Bambi, it's time to wake up."

Slowly, JD's other senses started coming back to him, and in the back of his mind, the doctor part of him told him that he was regaining consciousness. JD smelled the distinct smell of antiseptic, heard a TV in the distance in addition to the voice calling to him, and became very aware of the pain in his head. With what seemed like a tremendous amount of effort, JD opened his eyes; the lights in the room were dimmed, but through the shadows, JD saw Carla standing at the edge of his bed, smiling down at him.

"It's about time you woke up, Bambi. We've been worried about you."

JD rolled his head to the side, trying to escape the pain. "Wha -pened?" JD croaked out. Carla turned away for a moment and then turned back, holding a small cup of what. She helped him take a few sips, and the JD spoke again. "What happened?"

"You and Dr. Cox were in a car wreck. His car went right into a river."

JD closed his eyes as his choppy memories of the event came back. His eyes snapped open, and he looked back to Carla. "Where's Dr. Cox?"

"He's in another room."

"Is he okay?"

"He has a concussion, and we had to treat him for mild hypothermia, but he's okay. His left shoulder is going to be pretty sore for awhile though."

"Why?"

"He bruised a muscle in his shoulder." She paused for a moment and brushed a stray hair out of JD's eyes. "Want to hear your list?"

"Give it to me," mumbled JD, feeling his eyes start to grow heavy.

"You broke your right wrist. We are monitoring your lungs because you apparently swallowed some water; that is more of just a precaution though. You don't have a concussion, but you did need stitches in your forehead. Plus, you also had to be treated for hypothermia. You really shouldn't go swimming in November, Bambi." She set her hand on JD's head, much like a mother would do with their child.

JD slowly lifted his right arm, and smiled when he saw the lime green cast. "Cool," he whispered, gently setting his arm back down.

"Turk picked out the color; Elliot tried to get them to put pink on you."

"Where are they?"

"Elliot is making her rounds, and Turk is in surgery."

JD's brow creased in confusion. "How long have I been out?"

"Most the night. You woke up a few times when they brought you in, but after determining you didn't have a concussion, the doctor gave you a sedative to help you sleep. I really should be informing him that you are awake."

"When can I get out of here?"

Carla smiled. "You should be patient, Bambi. You just woke up, but I'm sure your doctor can give you an estimate." She bent down and kissed the area just to the side of the bandage on his forehead. "You had us so worried, Bambi. I'm so glad you're okay."

Carla turned to leave the room, but JD suddenly stopped her. "Wait!" Carla turned back around. "Are you sure Dr. Cox is okay?"

"I'm sure, JD. His car might not be, but Dr. Cox is fine."

XVIIIIV

Perry was not fine. In fact, he was far from it. His head hurt like a son of a bitch, he couldn't seem to quite get warm, and his shoulder was killing him. Yes, altogether, Perry was very far from fine. It didn't help that the doctor who was treating him, just happened to be one of his annoying interns.

"After you are discharged, you need to ice your shoulder and keep it-"

"I know what to do for a bruised muscle," Perry nearly shouted. "I am a freaking doctor!"

The intern looked pale. "Well...um...Dr. Cox..."

"I'll give you five seconds to get out of my room. One...two...three..." The intern was gone, and Perry was pretty sure he saw a puff of smoke where the intern had been. With a sigh, Perry closed his eyes and rested his head back against the pillow. He only got a few seconds of peace though.

"Do you always have to make the interns run away in fright?"

Perry opened his eyes and saw Carla leaning against the door frame, arms crossed. "I wasn't really in the mood to hear him try and act like a doctor. My head is already killing me." He closed his eyes for a moment but then opened them again. "I've been asking every moron who walked in here, but none of them could give me a straight answer: how's Newbie?"

Carla walked into the hospital room and over to the side of Perry's bed. "He's okay. His wrist his broken and he was suffering from hypothermia when he was brought in, but he's going to be okay. They are keeping on eye on his lungs since he swallowed a decent amount of water."

Perry closed his eyes and let out a long sigh of relief. "Good."

Carla's eyebrows went up. "Is the big bad Perry Cox actually showing concern for Bambi?"

Perry opened his eyes again and glared at her. "Shut it."

Carla crossed her arms again. "Excuse me?"

Perry clenched his teeth. "Nothing."

Carla shook her head and was about to leave when Perry suddenly grabbed hold of her arm. "Wait!"

"What?" asked Carla, obviously concerned.

"Where is Newbie's room?"

"Just two rooms down from your's." She titled her head and stared at him. "Why?"

Perry didn't answer. He threw back the blankets that were covering him and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

"Perry, what are you doing?"

"I am going down to Newbie's room."

"You have a concussion; you'll probably fall over before you even get down to his room."

"I will not," retorted Perry, sounding very similar to an angry child. He stood up quickly from his bed, but, as if just to prove Carla right, the world in front of him dimmed. Perry began to lose his balance, but two hands steadied him.

"Yeah. Don't listen to the nurse...even though she was right!" Perry heard Carla nearly shout as the world came back into focus.

"I re-he-eally don't need you lecturing me right now, Carla." He pressed a hand to his aching forehead, careful to avoid the stitches. "I just need to get down to Newbie's room."

"Are you going to yell at him?"

"No, I am not going to yell at him."

Carla studied him carefully, obviously trying to decide if he was lying. She apparently believed he wasn't going to cause any harm to her Bambi because the suspicious look left her face, and she sighed loudly. "I'm gonna go get you a wheelchair. Do not try and get up again." She was waving her finger at him like he was a little child.

"I don't need a wheelchair!"

"Yes, you do. I'm not gonna have you fainting in the hall."

Carla turned and walked out of the room just as Perry shouted, "I don't faint!" He was Dr.-freaking-Cox, and he did not faint. Newbie fainted, but not him.

It only took a minute for Carla to get a wheelchair and return to Perry's room. It was obvious he was unhappy with the mode of transportation, but with an annoyed huff, he allowed Carla to help him into the chair. She figured he must really want to see JD if he was willing to ride twenty feet down the hall in a wheelchair.

"I can get there myself," said Perry angrily when Carla began to push him.

"You're supposed to be resting that shoulder. You yelled at that intern you were a doctor, you should know you're supposed to be resting that shoulder."

Perry huffed again as Carla pushed him out of the room and down the hall. "_I can't fucking believe this. Newbie had better be alright, or I am going to kill him."_

XVIIIIV


	3. Chapter III: The Ascent

Title: The Plunge

Author: Ryo314

Rating: T

Spoilers: None

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters nor the concept of Scrubs.

Summary: An accident brings Perry and JD closer...a lot closer.

Note: Sorry it took so long; I got a little preoccupied.

**Warning: **This is a slash story: JD/Perry. If you do not like these stories, please stop reading because all flames based on the fact this is a slash story will be cruelly mocked along with their flamer in the next chapter.

**The Plunge**

Chapter III: The Ascent

"_If you play it safe in life you've decided you that you don't want to grow anymore." Shirley Mount Hufstedler_

"I'm swear I'm okay, Elliot," JD told his frantic friend for the third time. He winced slightly when she shined a penlight in his eyes. "You know I was already checked out, don't you?"

"I just want to make sure," said Elliot, putting the penlight back into her pocket. "I was so scared when I heard you'd been in a wreck."

"So was I," joked JD. He laughed slightly, but apparently Elliot didn't find the humor in his joke. "Sorry."

"It's okay." Elliot gave him a smile. "How are you feeling?"

"Doing pretty good. My head kind of hurts-"

"Do you want me to get your doctor?" Elliot was already to her feet.

JD grabbed her arm and pulled her back down to her seat. "I don't need the doctor, Elliot. Other than my head, I'm fine. Nice and warm."

"I can't believe you guys wrecked into a river in November. That water had to be freezing!"

JD winced at his friend's high pitched voice. "Yeah, Elliot. It was."

"Are you sure you're okay, JD?" she asked, studying him carefully.

"Yeah. Why?"

"I don't know. You just seem to be acting strange."

JD's brow creased in confusion. "Strange?"

"You seem way too calm and upbeat after just having been in a car accident."

JD was suddenly nervous; he really didn't want to tell Elliot about the fact that Dr. Cox had kissed him. Suddenly, JD found himself in the midst of a daydream.

"_Why are you acting so strange?" asked Elliot, who was now in a police uniform (A very short police uniform). She shined a lamp right in his face._

"_I-I'm not," stammered out a nervous JD._

"_Where were you on the night of June 4__th__, 1969?"_

"_I wasn't even born yet!"_

"_You're the reason the chicken crossed the rode!"_

"_What?"_

_Elliot shined the lamp in his face again and shouted. "You kissed Dr. Cox, didn't you?!"_

"_Yes!" JD shouted. "Yes! It was me! I did it!"_

"Did what?"

JD was brought back to reality by Elliot's voice. "Huh?"

"You said 'I did it.' Did what?"

"Um...." JD tried to think of anything to respond with; his mind failed him. "Nothing." How could he tell his friends that Dr. Cox had kissed him, and that he had secretly always wanted him to?

Elliot shook her, but let the incident slide. "So what was it like being in a car wreck with Dr. Cox?"

Elliot leaned forward, obviously expecting an exciting answer, but she never get one.

"It was the most amazing experience of his young life, Barbie. Now beat it; I need to talk to Michelle."

JD and Elliot both turned toward the doorway and saw Carla pushing Dr. Cox into the room. Both of them were amazed by the fact that the doctor could and _would _inflict fear into any intern's heart was sitting in a wheelchair.

"JD is my friend, Dr. Cox." She stood up and put her hands on her hips; she was trying to look intimidating. "You can't just tell me to leave."

"Now, Barbie!"

"Okay!" Elliot gave JD a small wave and rushed out of the room.

Carla was shaking her head as she pushed Dr. Cox about a foot from the bed. The three of them said nothing, and the room was quiet for several minutes.

"Um...Carla?" said Dr. Cox, finally breaking the silence.

"Yeah?"

"Can you...vamous so I can talk to Newbie?"

Carla looked between JD and Dr. Cox several times before apparently finally getting the message. "Um...of course. Yeah. Just-just hit the page button when you're ready to go back to your room." She looked between the two mean one more time before leaving JD's room.

"So..." said JD, speaking for the first time since Dr. Cox had entered his room. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, Patricia. My head is killing me, and I had to be wheeled down the hall like an invalid, but I'm just freaking peachy." Dr. Cox immediately regretted his words when he saw the slightly hurt look on JD's face. Taking a deep breath, Dr. Cox decided to do something he thought he would never do...to anyone. "Look, Newbie, I'm sorry. My head just has me really fucking irritable."

JD smiled. _Dr. Cox apologized to me! Yes! _"It's okay."

"How are you feeling?"

"Pretty good. My head aches a little, but other than that I am pretty comfortable. It's a good thing Thanksgiving is over; you certainly wouldn't be driving your car anywhere..." JD let his sentence trail off, and the two sat in an awkward silence for several minutes. It finally got to the point where JD couldn't take it anymore. "Dr. Cox, why did you kiss me?"

Dr. Cox sighed in frustration. "Newbie, can we please not discuss that here...where there are other people?"

"But why? It just came out of nowhere." JD couldn't get his mind off of it now that he had asked.

"Amanda, drop it!" Dr. Cox ran a hand over his face.

"I can't!"

"Newbie!"

"Why?! Dammit!"

"Because I was fucking happy you weren't dead!" Dr. Cox yelled in response. JD stared at him in shock.

XVIIIIV

"_Yeah, Perry. That was the smart way to tell him." _Perry sighed; JD was still staring at him.

"You care about me," JD finally said. "Like that?"

"Way to sound more like a junior high girl than usual, Julia." Perry took a deep breath. "I told you, I am not discussing this here."

"You kissed me out of nowhere, Dr. Cox. I think that warrants discussion."

Perry was beginning to get annoyed with JD's persistence. "You seem to be forgetting that you kissed me back and then practically attacked me with another kiss."

JD turned very red and looked down at his hands. "Yeah...well...you kissed me first."

Perry rolled his eyes; JD had just used to the oldest comeback in the book. "Yeah. Great response, Claire."

"Dr. Cox, I really think we need to talk about this."

"_God! Newbie is fucking persistent!"_

"I think we need to forget about it for the time being."

"Dr. Cox, if you _like _me, then well...um...you see...I like you too, and-"

"Newbie, you just need to drop it okay. I came down here to make sure that you were okay, not to get into some heavy discussion about feelings. Unlike you, I am a man, and I don't like talking about my feelings."

JD suddenly looked angry; that was not a look Perry saw on him very often, especially not being directed at him. "You know, Dr. Cox? Why don't you just get out then?! Obviously I'm fine, and you are apparently you're normal self, so why don't you just get out and leave me alone?!" JD groped behind his bed and found the call button for the nurse. He pressed it angrily and then crossed his arms, waiting for Carla; Perry saw him wince slightly will tucking his broken wrist into the fold.

"Yeah?" said Carla, hurrying into the room.

"Dr. Cox is done," said JD curtly, before turning onto his side. His back was facing Carla and Perry.

Carla looked at Perry. "Are you?" she asked, almost sounding nervous.

"Yeah," replied Perry. Carla took a step forward to wheel Perry out of the room, but he was already managing to maneuver himself out while only using his good arm. As Perry rolled down the hall, he could hear Carla asking JD if he was okay. With a frustrated sigh, Perry wheeled himself down the hall faster.

XVIIIIIV

"Hey, Vanilla Bear! How you feelin' today?" Turk walked into the room carrying a small duffel bag, containing JD's clothes.

"I feel good, brother," replied JD with a smile. He'd been in the hospital for nearly two days, and he was more than ready to be released. During that time, Dr. Cox hadn't attempted to talk to him again, and all JD had heard about him was that he was being released the same day he was.

"JD, you really need to stop saying that. Coming from you, it's not really cool."

JD put a look of fake hurt on his face. "But you are my brother, Chocolate Bear."

Turk shook his head and handed his friend the duffel bag. "So how long are you off from work again?" asked Turk as JD began pulling his clothes out of the bag.

"Four days."

"That was a hell of a way to make the hospital give you a vacation."

JD laughed. "You don't think it was a little extreme?"

"I don't think crashing the car into the river was extreme, but the hypothermia may have pushed it over the limit."

JD and Turk both laughed, but when the laughter was over, Turk's face adopted a serious look, and he set a hand on JD's shoulder. "I was worried about you, man."

"I know, Turk."

"You're never allowed to do that again, Vanilla Bear. Okay?"

"Got it, Chocolate Bear."

"Good. Now, hurry up and get dressed. Carla said she could give you a ride back to the apartment, but she has to be back in time for her shift."

"Kay," he pulled a pair of jeans and boxers and the hoodie that Carla probably packed.

"Carla stocked the kitchen full of good things. Sometimes I wonder who she likes more, me or you."

"Of course she likes you more, Chocolate Bear. I'm just Bambi."

"You do realize that no girl with ever take you seriously when they find out your nickname is Bambi."

JD flinched when he heard that and hoped that Turk hadn't noticed. Dr. Cox didn't really take him seriously anyway, but after what happened when he woke up the other day, JD doubted that anything was going to happen between him and Dr. Cox. _Man! It is going to be so damn awkward now. I wonder if I can still fit behind the vending machines?_

As JD's thoughts wandered off in a million different directions, he slowly changed from the hospital issued pajamas to the clothes Turk had brought for him. He hadn't realized how many aches were present in his body until he had to move it all at once. Something told him the next few days were not going to be pleasant.

XVIIIIV

Perry was not happy. After JD's stupid little hissy fit at the hospital, the young doctor was all Perry could think about, and that did not make the four days he had to spend at home any easier. He had only been back at his apartment for one night, and JD was on his mind the entire time.

"Dammit!" shouted Perry as he collapsed onto the couch. He let out an involuntary hiss when his drop to the couch jarred his bruised shoulder. He knew that in a little while he was supposed to ice it again, but Perry was finding it harder and harder to care about his damn shoulder. At the moment, the only reason he cared about his damn shoulder was because he couldn't really be a doctor if his arm didn't work right.

Perry sat on the couch for another half hour; his thoughts slowly moving around in circles in his head. "_If it hadn't been for damn Kelso, I wouldn't have even been in that damn car with Newbie. I would never have wrecked my car...my beautiful, beautiful car...I would never have had to save Newbie's life, and I would never have kissed him. I could have just ignored all those thoughts about the little idiot and kept calling him girl names until the end of freaking time."_

Perry groaned and ran the hand connected to his good arm over his face. "_I have got to get Kelso back. How? Think, Perry. Think. Maybe I could get Newbie to-DAMMIT! Get out of my head!"_

Perry stood from the couch abruptly and began to pace across the apartment floor. He couldn't deal with this; he wouldn't. He paced for several more minutes and then let out a defeated sigh.

"I have to," Perry muttered aloud. If he didn't do something about Newbie, he was was going to go crazy. Grabbing his coat and struggling to get it on over his bad shoulder, Perry made his way toward the door. He didn't have a car, his baby had been totaled in the wreck, and it took a moment for Perry to accept what was going to have to be his mode of transportation.

As he walked toward the bus stop, Perry clenched his teeth angrily as his thoughts continued there erratic paths. They finally came to a conclusion.

"_Newbie, you had better still be wanting to talk because if you're not, I might just to have to freaking kill you." _With an angry groan, Perry climbed on the bus and took a seat.

XVIIIIV

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I am hoping to have the next chapter up by Thursday because I've got some time off from school; I just has surgery.


	4. Chapter IV: The Jerk

Title: The Plunge

Author: Ryo314

Rating: T

Spoilers: None

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters nor the concept of Scrubs.

Summary: An accident brings Perry and JD closer...a lot closer.

Note: I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter, and thanks for the reviews.

**Warning: **This is a slash story: JD/Perry. If you do not like these stories, please stop reading because all flames based on the fact this is a slash story will be cruelly mocked along with their flamer in the next chapter.

**The Plunge**

Chapter IV: The Jerk

"_If you don't risk anything you risk even more." Erica Jong_

He was playing in the wooded area behind his house, ignoring the cold November wind that blew around him. His parents said it was just an area that kept the cornfield that was next door to their house separate from their property. He didn't like to think of it as just "a wooded area." To him, it was a giant jungle where he was searching for the Spear of Destiny. He and his dad loved to watch adventure movies which is where he got all his ideas from; Indiana Jones was his hero.

He went running across the small creek that cut through the wooded area, pretending to be chased by angry natives, when he foot caught a rock and he went crashing to the ground. He pushed himself to his hands and knees, but his right knee buckled when he placed pressure on it. Tentatively, he rolled over onto his back and and looked down at his knee. He must have landed on something pretty sharp because the material of his jeans had been cut right through, and his knee had a deep gash in it.

Take several deep breaths, he tried to keep calm; big boys didn't freak out over cuts, and they certainly didn't cry. He was, unfortunately, very aware of the tears pooling in his eyes. Suddenly, he couldn't take it anymore. With one last deep breath, he let out a terrified scream. "MOMMY!"

XVIIIIV

JD was actually enjoying the fact he didn't have to be at the hospital that day. He was laying on the couch of the apartment, a bowl of chicken noodle soup (that Carla had either bought or made, JD couldn't figure it out) sitting on the coffee table in front of him, and Rowdy was on the floor near his head. There was a marathon on of _Gilmore Girls_, and JD was enjoying older episodes he hadn't seen in awhile.

There was a sudden loud knock on the door, which almost caused JD to drop the spoonful of soup he was about to eat. "Um..." said JD, using the sleeve of his shirt to clean up the few drops of soup that had landed on the coffee table. "Who's there?"

"It's me, Jessica!" shouted an all too familiar voice. "Now, open the damn door!"

JD stared at the door with his mouth hanging open; Dr. Cox was at his apartment! Frantically, JD turned off the television, not really wanting his mentor to see him watching _Gilmore Girls_, and tried his best to clean off the coffee table. He had his journal out there with him along with candy bracelet wrappers. Turk had gotten those for him; Carla probably wouldn't agree with him eating a bunch of candy after just getting out of the hospital.

"Um...just give me a second!" shouted JD, hurrying to the kitchen to throw away the wrappers.

"Hurry up, Susie!"

JD tossed the wrappers into the trash and then rushed to his room to put his journal away. Straightening his clothes, which were actually just a pair of plaid pajama pants and a thermal shirt, JD rushed to the door. He unlocked the door of the apartment, removed the chain, and then opened the door. He stared wide-eyed at Dr. Cox; he hadn't really expected it to be Dr. Cox, chalking the voice of his mentor up to an undiagnosed head injury.

"Dr. Cox?!"

"Yeah, Newbie. I told you it was me."

"What are you doing here?"

"What do you think, Newbie?"

For a moment, JD was lost in a daydream where he and Dr. Cox were on the beach, and it was going great until Dr. Cox flicked him on the side of his forehead. This jarred him out of his fantasy, and he looked back up at the older doctor.

"Newbie, I just rode a bus that was full of crying kids and crazy old ladies to talk to you, so you can not slip off into one of you fantasies where you're wearing a dress for five minutes, okay?"

JD tilted his head and smiled at him. "You rode the bus?"

"Well, I don't have a car now, do I?"

JD shrugged sheepishly. "Um...come on in?"

"Why thanks, Natalie. You're such a good hostess."

Dr. Cox brushed past JD and walked into the apartment. JD slowly closed the door and then turned back toward Dr. Cox. They were both silent for several minutes before JD spoke.

"Dr. Cox, you still haven't told me why you're here."

Dr. Cox sighed. "I'm here because your stupid little hissy fit at the hospital has been bothering me for the last three days, okay?"

JD crossed his arms. "I didn't throw a hissy fit."

"Now, are you sure about that, Cynthia? Because I was just about to put my hands up in preparation for a catfight?"

"Dr. Cox, if you just came over here to insult me, can you please wait till we get back to work? You do realize that we were both just in a car accident?"

"I didn't come over here to just insult you, Zoey. I also came over here to mock you."

JD shook his head. At first, he'd been kind of excited when he saw Dr. Cox at his door, but now, he was just getting annoyed. He should have known, based off their argument at the hospital, that nothing was going to change. The two kisses were just a fluke, and he should just forget them.

"Look, Dr. Cox, I was kinda in the middle of something, so if you don't really have anything important to say, would you please leave?"

"What were you doing, Newbie? Watching _Snow White_?"

JD crossed his arms. "No." _Gilmore Girls is completely different from _Snow White.

"Well, I'm sure you're watching some chick flick."

"Um...no. I'm watching sports." Perry scoffed. "Football."

"Yeah right."

"Dr. Cox, why are you here?" JD was practically yelling.

"Because!"

"Well, at the hospital, you made it pretty clear you didn't want to talk about what happened. Why are you here?"

"Dammit, Newbie!" Dr. Cox yelled, covering the distance between them in just a few steps. He grabbed hold of JD and pulled him into a rough kiss.

XVIIIIV

Perry winced slightly in the midst of the kiss. The process of grabbing hold of JD had jarred his injured shoulder, but at the moment, he didn't care. For a moment, the younger doctor struggled against the kiss, but just after a second, JD quit struggling and wrapped his arms around Perry. The older doctor was surprised when JD's cast bumped him on the back of the neck, but at the same time, he really didn't care. When the need for air became too great, they pulled away and tried to catch their breaths.

"You...took...the...bus?" JD said between breaths. He hadn't unwrapped his arms from around Perry.

"Yeah, Ashley, I took the freaking bus."

There was another long pause between them.

"What is this going to be to you?"

"What?" asked Perry, seriously confused by JD's question.

"You heard me, Dr. Cox? What is this going to be to you? I know I don't have much luck in my relationships, and everyone at the hospital knows how screwed up you and Jordan are. If I am just going to be some side thing you've got until you and Jordan feel like messing around again. I don't-"

JD never got a chance to finish; Perry was once again kissing him. This one was shorter, and when it was over, Perry spoke again. "Newbie, don't mention the she-witch's name when we are together, kay?"

"Are you serious about this?"

"I rode a fucking bus, Newbie, and I am standing here next to the most annoying person I've ever met as close to discussing my "feelings" as I have ever been in my life. Yes, I'm serious."

"You still think I'm annoying?"

"Of course I do, Emily."

"Then why do you like me?"

Perry shook his head. "I have no idea. I just do. Is that a good enough explanation?"

JD smiled a bit and then shrugged. "Yeah."

"Good." Perry finally released JD and then slowly made his way over to the couch. He dropped to the couch and then began to rub his sore shoulder.

"Are you okay?" asked JD.

"No. You see, I was in a car accident the other day, Newbie, and I messed up my shoulder." Perry rolled his eyes.

"Do you want some ice?"

Perry instantly felt bad for his sarcasm when JD offered his some ice. "Yeah, Newbie. Um...thanks."

Perry stared straight ahead at the blank TV, hearing JD make his way to the fridge to get the ice. "_I can't believe I'm here, and that I'm serious about this. I actually just told Jennifer that I was serious about wanting to be in some sort of relationship with him. Am I fucking crazy?!"_

Perry was startled from his thoughts when something cold was placed on his left shoulder. He looked up and saw that JD had placed an ice pack on his shoulder. JD then made his way around the coach and sat down on Perry's right side.

Perry took this moment to take a look around JD's apartment. It was obvious that the main occupants were guys considering there seemed to be no sense of order around the apartment. In fact, the only piece of evidence that Carla was ever there was that one of her coats was hanging by the door. Perry looked to his left and stared down at the stuffed dog set near the couch.

"Newbie, what's with the freaky dog?"

"That's Rowdy. You shouldn't call him freaky; you'll hurt his feelings." There was a pause. "You should pet him as an apology."

"There is no way in Hell I'm going to pet that thing."

"Why not?"

"Because it's a dead freaking dog."

"He's not dead; he's just very very still."

Perry sighed and shook his head; he couldn't believe that JD was seriously the person in the world he was interested in; it was Newbie for God sakes!

"Um...Dr. Cox?" JD said as he scooted toward the older doctor.

"Yes, Sandy?"

"Can...umm...are we going to tell people?"

"No."

"But-"

"Not now, Newbie. Can you please just give it some time?"

"Can I call you Perry?"

"When we are at least a mile away from the hospital."

"What are you going to call me?" JD was twisting his hands in his lap nervously, and Perry couldn't help but think it made him look even more girly.

"Whatever clever name girl name I can think of at the moment in time."

JD's voice fell. "You're not going to call me JD?"

"Only if you're not annoying me." Perry paused for a moment. "Looks like you'll have to live with girl names or Newbie."

JD shook his head. "Are you really serious about this, Dr. Cox?"

"If you keep asking me that question, I'm going to give you an answer you don't like."

JD didn't say anything after that. Instead, he reached forward and grabbed the television remote. JD turned on the TV, and Perry almost laughed out loud when he saw what the younger doctor had been watching before he showed up: _Gilmore Girls._

XVIIIIV

Carla was happy that her shift had ended early that day. Even though she knew that JD was going to be alright, she still couldn't help but worry about her Bambi. As she adjusted the strap of her bag, Carla tested the door; she wasn't surprised to find the door unlocked considering JD was supposed to be at home resting, but she was surprised by what she saw when she stepped into the apartment.

The television was on, but it had been muted; there was a hockey game playing. On the couch straight across from the television was Perry, with his head leaning on the back of the couch, and JD whose head was on Perry's shoulder's. On the shoulder that JD was not using as a pillow, there was a melted bag of ice resting on top of a dishtowel.

Carla stared at this for several minutes, trying to decide what to do; deep down she had always suspected that the two of them had feelings for each other, but she never actually expected for either of them, let alone both, to act on those feelings. Part of her just wanted to leave the two of them in peace while another part of her wanted to wake them up and see what the Hell was going on. Still, another part of her wanted to take a picture before they woke up on their own. She decided to do a combination of taking a picture and then waking them up.

As quietly as she could, Carla dug her cellphone out of her purse, flipped it open, and then adjusted the shot. She winced slightly when her phone made the camera flash noise, but she breathed a sigh of relief when JD and Perry did not wake and see her with the phone out.

"_Okay," _thought Carla, slipping the phone back into her purse. "_Time to see what the Hell is going on."_

Carla walked around to the back of the couch and rested her hands on the back of the couch in a spot where she was just to the left of Perry. A evil grin slipped onto her face as she thought about how she was going to wake up Perry.

"Now, Perry," Carla said loudly; Perry's eyes shot open in shock. "I am so glad that you decided not to take advantage of my poor Bambi, considering the state he is in."

"What the Hell are you doing here, Carla?" demanded Perry, grabbing the melted bag of ice off his shoulder; he didn't seem to notice JD using him as a pillow.

"I spend a majority of my time here, Perry. I am dating Turk and everything." The evil smile returned to her face. "Now, why are you taking advantage of my poor Bambi?" She nodded her head in the direction where JD was sleeping.

Perry looked to his right and stared at JD. "I wasn't....um...you see..."

JD woke up in the middle of Perry's stutters, and he gave the older doctor a tired smile. His eyes went wide, however, when he saw Carla leaning on the back of the couch.

"Hey, Car-Carla. What are you doing back so early?" JD stammered out nervously.

"I told you I would be back at three o' clock, Bambi. Now, if I may ask a question, what exactly is going on between you two?"

"Nothing," both JD and Perry replied unanimously; Carla didn't believe it for a second.

"Oh really. You too were completely worried about each other while at the hospital, then don't talk to each other after a brief conversation, and now I find you asleep together on the couch. That doesn't really seem like nothing is going on. So, I'll ask again. What is going on between you two?"

XVIIIIV

Perry could tell by the way JD had tensed up against his shoulder that he really wanted to tell Carla the truth, but Perry really did not want to tell one of the biggest gossips in the hospital, next to Laverne and JD, that he and JD were...

"_What are we doing?" _Perry asked him. "_We're not in a relationship. Are we starting one? What do I say? What do I mean, what do I say? I lie my ass off." _Perry never got a chance to make up a lie for Carla because JD beat him to an explanation.

"We're considering something."

"What?" said Carla, obviously confused.

"_My thoughts exactly," _Perry wondered.

"Um..." JD was obviously drawing a blank after his oh so wonderful explanation. "Well...it's complicated...you see-"

"Can you keep your big mouth shut, Carla?" Both JD and Carla were shocked by Perry's outburst.

"Excuse me?" Carla crossed her arms and glared at Perry. The older doctor knew before he even said that it would piss her off, but he had to make sure she knew how serious he was about this.

"You know what I said, Carla, and I am serious. Now, can you keep your mouth shut? Because if you can't, you can just forget about what you saw right now, kay?"

Carla slowly uncrossed her arms, obviously more intrigued by what was going on between JD and Perry than the offense she took at Perry's statement. "Yes, I can keep a secret, Perry."

Perry sighed. "What June here was trying so hard to put eloquently is that we're trying...." Perry paused. "_Fuck! How the Hell can I phrase this without sounding like a total girl? Jeeze, Newbie is already rubbing off on me."_

"Do you two _like _each other?" Carla finally came out and asked.

While on the outside, Perry looked as though the childish way of putting it offended him, but on the inside, he was actually glad that she had said it; it saved him from having to say.

"Yes, Carla. In the same junior high way that you put it, Newbie and I _like _each other. Now, we're going to start passing notes at the hospital."

"How long?" asked Carla dumbfounded.

"How long what?" asked Perry.

"How long have you two liked each other?"

XVIIIIV

"_How long have you two liked each?"_ The question repeated itself over and over in his head. _How long have I liked Dr. Cox? I mean, I always looked up to him, but how long have I _liked _him?_ For a moment, JD thought hard about the question , but he only ended up with a new version of his first day of work that seemed to involve everyone breaking out into song.

"I don't know, Carla," JD heard Dr. Cox finally say. "I don't keep track of things like that."

"Turk is not going to believe this," Carla replied, shaking her heard.

JD's heart leaped to his throat, and he and Dr. Cox shouted at the same time.

"YOU CAN'T TELL HIM!"

Carla was a little taken aback. "Bambi, he's your best friend."

"I know," JD said quietly. "It's just I don't want him to know...yet."

"Besides," Dr. Cox threw in, "I don't want him to know at all."

Carla rolled her eyes at Dr. Cox. "But Bambi..."

"I'll tell him eventually, just give me a chance to get used to everything. I mean this is all new to me, you know?"

Dr. Cox scoffed. "Do you need a tissue from your purse, Jody?" Carla smacked Dr. Cox upside the back of the head. "Ow! You do realize I just left the hospital for a concussion, don't you?"

"You be nice to Bambi. If you're serious about this, you're gonna have to be nicer to him; you're going to be dealing with all his friends now."

"Great..." muttered Dr. Cox sarcastically.

Carla turned back to JD, who was staring down at his hands. "Turk isn't going to be happy if you don't tell him." JD thought about that.

_JD imagined himself walking down the hall of the hospital arm in arm with Dr. Cox (which would probably never happen in real life). Suddenly, he heard running footsteps up the hall. Before he could even turn around, Turk had tackled him._

The tackle startled JD from his daydream, and he looked back and forth between Carla and Dr. Cox; both of them were staying at him.

"Bambi, are you alright?"

"Yeah," replied JD, nodding his head enthusiastically.

"If you didn't slip off into those ridiculous daydreams every damn day, I would think you'd messed up your head in that car accident."

"Look," said JD. "I'll tell Turk soon." He glanced nervously at Dr. Cox who didn't react to his words. "But not yet." JD looked up at Carla. "You're not going to tell him, are you?"

Carla sighed. "No, but if you guys don't want him to find out, I suggest Perry not be here. Turk switched his shift with another surgeon, and he's now getting off at 3:30."

JD and Dr. Cox both turned toward the clock: 3:15. Dr. Cox jumped up off the couch, wincing slightly when his stiff shoulder moved, and hurried toward the door; JD followed. Dr. Cox pulled open the door and was about to leave. Before he did though, Dr. Cox turned around, kissed JD quickly, and then hurried out the door; the older doctor must not have really cared how much Carla knew anymore.

XVIIIIV

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I don't know when the next will be up, but it will hopefully be soon.


	5. Chapter V: The Look Down

Title: The Plunge

Author: Ryo314

Rating: T

Spoilers: None

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters nor the concept of Scrubs.

Summary: An accident brings Perry and JD closer...a lot closer.

Note: I want to thank everyone for all the reviews, and I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

**Warning: **This is a slash story: JD/Perry. If you do not like these stories, please stop reading because all flames based on the fact this is a slash story will be cruelly mocked along with their flamer in the next chapter.

**The Plunge**

Chapter V: The Look Down

"_Unless you know what you want, you can't ask for it." Emma Albani_

JD lay in his bed that night, staring at the ceiling; he couldn't fall asleep for the life of him. Everything that had happened that day was running wild in his head. He still couldn't believe that Dr. Cox actually liked him, and that he had taken the bus. A smile slipped on JD's face when he thought about the usually angry doctor riding on a city bus.

_Dr. Cox sits with his arms crossed on a bus seat. There is a little kid in the seat across from, playing with a little airplane. Suddenly, the kid throws the plane, and it does a loop in the air. After circling around Dr. Cox's head for a moment, it hits the doctor in the forehead. _

_Perry leaps from his seat and takes a step toward the little kid. The kid's mother leaps from her own seat and begins smacking Dr. Cox with her purse. Dr. Cox covers his head with his arms and tries to get away from the woman. Suddenly, the bus stops, and Dr. Cox runs off the bus._

JD laughed out loud at the thought of Dr. Cox running off the bus, being chased by a woman swinging a purse. He rolled over in his bed and forced his eyes closed. He couldn't seem to fall asleep; everything that had happened that day wouldn't allow him to get any rest. What was going to happen? Wasn't it going to be awkward between them at the hospital? JD thought about that for a moment.

_It's probably not going to be any different. Dr. Cox will probably just get annoyed with me and tell me to go away. _JD paused for a moment and a slight panic seized him. _What if he realizes that I am too annoying, and he doesn't want to be in a relationship? What if he dumps me right in front of the entire hospital? He can't dump me; we're not even technically going out. We're...we're...I don't know what the hell we are. I mean...we can't really be a couple because everything just happened a few days ago, and besides, couples date...Wait! That's it! If Dr. Cox is really serious about this relationship, then he'll go out on a date with me. That's it! I can find out what is really going on in this relationship._

A very smug smile slipped onto his face, but his chest tightened slightly. Yes, he'd thought of a way to get into Dr. Cox's head and find out what he was thinking...kind of, but what if he didn't like the answer. And then there was the whole Turk issue.

_Damn it! Why did Dr. Kelso just have to send people to that damn conference?_

After a lot more tossing and turning, JD finally managed to fall asleep; his dreams, however, we plagued with images of demon bus being driven by Dr. Kelso.

XVIIIIV

Perry sat on the couch in his living room; a ice pack was resting on his shoulder while the hand attached to his bad arm was flicking through the channels. There was nothing on television, or at least that's what Perry's overly active mind was trying to tell him. It also didn't help that his overly active mind kept returning to a similarly overly active doctor. Since leaving JD's apartment the day before, Perry hadn't been able to get the younger doctor off his mind.

He still couldn't believe that he was even considering...what was he considering? A relationship? While the thought of even thinking about being in a relationship with Newbie made him shudder, part of him wanted it. He couldn't remember when his feelings...he hated the word "feelings"...toward JD had changed. One day, Perry had been listening to JD ramble on about something unimportant when the older doctor suddenly realized that Newbie wasn't a complete idiot. Of course Perry always knew that JD was a damn good doctor (he would never say it to his face however), but whenever Newbie wasn't being a doctor, he was a moron...or at least he thought.

The day Perry suddenly realized that Newbie wasn't a complete moron, the older doctor couldn't get JD off his mind. For a long time Perry fought the feelings that resulted from his realization that JD wasn't completely idiotic. In fact, he fought the feelings until JD took a breath after being pulled out of the car.

Now, however, Perry wasn't really sure what he was going to do. One problem was the fact he'd never been interested in another guy before, which is one of the reasons he fought his feelings for JD for so long. "_I'm __**not**_ _gay," _thought Perry. "_I just like Newbie. Besides, Betty is such a girl anyway that I'm not even sure if a relationship with him could be considered "same-sex"."_ Perry couldn't help but laugh out loud at his joke.

As Perry sat on the couch, pretending to pay attention to the channels he was flipping through, there was a suddenly and rather timid sounding knock on the door. Perry turned off the television and then tossed the remote to the end of the couch. Taking the ice pack off his shoulder, Perry pushed himself up off the couch and made his way over to the door. He really didn't know who could be at his door; the timidness of the knock made him think it may be the guy down the hall who kept getting his mail. Perry had told him off once, and the guy had been nervous about returning his mail ever since.

Perry opened the door and found a very nervous looking Newbie, standing in front of him. The younger man was fingering the material of his cast and trying his best to give Perry a smile that didn't make him look like a mouse in a lion's cage.

"What are you doing here, Casey?" demanded Perry; he wasn't really angry about seeing JD, but he was a little surprised.

"Um...well...I'm just paying you a visit since you paid me one yesterday?" JD gave him another nervous smile.

"Are you sure, Newbie? I noticed you said that as a question."

"Yeah. I'm sure." JD wrong his hands together nervously. "Do-Do you want me to leave?"

For a moment, Perry felt a pang of guilt; he hadn't really meant to make the kind feel like he had to leave, nor did he want JD to leave.

"No." Perry swallowed, internally forcing himself to be polite for a moment. "Come on in, Newbie."

JD smiled, for real this time, and stepped into the apartment. Perry directed him over to the couch and then shut the apartment door behind JD. He then wandered over to the couch and collapsed next to the younger doctor. He was in for a rather unpleasant surprise, however, upon realizing he'd sat on the ice pack he'd left on the couch. Lifting himself off the couch slightly, which only served to jar his shoulder some more, Perry pulled the ice pack out from beneath him and tossed it onto the coffee table.

"So...Newbie?" said Perry, intentionally drawing out his sentence. "Why are you here?"

There was a long pause between the two of them before JD broke the silence. "We should go on a date."

The statement was so abrupt and out of nowhere that Perry really couldn't come up with anything to say in response for several minutes.

XVIIIIV

JD was mentally kicking himself; why didn't he actually wait before he went right into the question. Dr. Cox was definitely going to kick him out of the apartment, if not kill him.

"I'm sorry," JD said quickly, beginning to stand from the couch. "I'm sorry. Look, Dr. Cox, I'll just leave."

Before JD could even make it a foot from the couch, Dr. Cox grabbed hold of his good arm and pulled him back down on the couch.

"Where do you think you're going, Janet?"

"Um...I'm leaving before you get angry?" JD's eyes glanced nervously toward the door.

An evil smile appeared on Dr. Cox's face. "Why would I get angry?"

"Because I spoke?"

"There's a good reason there." Perry sighed. "Why do you want to go out on a date, Newbie? They're overrated."

JD shrugged; he was very nervous about giving Dr. Cox the real answer. "To-to see where we're headed?"

The smile disappeared from Dr. Cox's face, and JD was scared that the older doctor was going to say. There was another long silence between the two of them, which was odd considering when they were at the hospital JD normally couldn't stop talking to Dr. Cox, and then the older man finally replied.

"You're wondering about that too, Carolyn?"

_What? Dr. Cox did not just say that? I'm hallucinating! I'm dreaming; I'm still asleep in my bed! I have an undiagnosed head injury! _

There was another abnormally long pause between them, and JD was beginning to get very nervous. Just as JD was about to bolt from the couch again, Dr. Cox started talking.

"We're not going any place where people can just sit and stare at us?"

The tenseness melted from JD's body, and he was shocked by Dr. Cox's statement. "Wha-what?"

"We're not going to go to some restaurant or anything like that?"

JD decided to press his luck. "What about a movie?"

Dr. Cox sighed. "I get to pick the movie; I don't want to go see what chick flick you'd pick out."

JD smiled. "Are you serious? We can go to a movie?"

Dr. Cox shook his head. "You're the one who wanted to go on a "date," Newbie." He used air quotes around date. "I don't want to hear you nag me about this issue until I go insane."

"So....we're going to go to a movie?"

"If you continue talking about it, we won't."

"When are we going to go?"

"When will get you to shut up the soonest?"

JD smiled, and Dr. Cox instantly regretted his words. "Not tonight!"

"Tomorrow?"

Dr. Cox sighed, but deep down, JD knew he had won. "Okay. Tomorrow."

"What movie?"

"Newbie, you've got your freaking date, for now, just leave it at that."

JD smiled, but a frown quickly replaced it when another thought entered his mind. "Why are you willing to do this date?"

"Newbie, why won't you just give it a rest? You got your date."

"But it was too easy."

"Do you want to fight for it? I'm pretty sure I could take you down, Clarissa, even with a bad shoulder."

JD wanted to bolt from the couch again, but he managed to fight the urge to run. "I just want to know why, Dr. Cox? I mean this whole situation is pretty damn confusing, and I am just trying to put it together in my head."

There was another frustrated sigh from Dr. Cox, and JD wondered if he had gone too far. "Look, JD." The younger doctor was shocked when Dr. Cox used his real name. "I know to you it probably doesn't seem like I have any desire to figure out what exactly is going on between...us." Dr. Cox looked like he had swallowed a bug when he said that. "The fact of the matter is up until the accident I didn't have any desire to figure out what was going on between us, but now I do. Despite my track record with relationships and yours, I am willing to try...something, okay?" JD nodded. "Good. Now, don't ever make me go into an explanation like that again, okay?" JD nodded again, this time a bit more timidly.

XVIIIIV

Turk turned away from the television and to the door when he heard it opening. He wasn't too surprised to find that it was JD, considering his friend had said he would be back in an hour and the hour was up ten minutes ago.

"Hey, V-Bear!" shouted Turk, turning back toward the television. "Did you get it?"

"Get what?" asked JD obviously confused. Carla glanced up from the chair she was reading in to study JD for a moment; this made the young doctor squirm a little.

"Whatever it was that you were getting from the store," replied Turk. "You know I would have gone and gotten it for you, don't you?"

"Oh yeah, but you two have done enough for me, besides, I'm feeling great." JD gave them both a smile and then sat down on the couch next to Turk.

"So...did you get it?"

JD's smile disappeared. "Um....no. They were out."

"What was it?"

JD thought as quickly as he could. "Soap."

"The store was out of soap?"

"They were out of the kind I wanted."

"What kind would that have been, Bambi?" asked Carla, joining in the conversation.

JD was suddenly very nervous. "The kind that smells like tangerine."

"Ah man," said Turk, slapping his knee. "I love that kind."

Carla rolled her eyes, and JD breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that Carla was trying to confess that he had actually been at Dr. Cox's apartment, but JD had somehow managed to avoid her guilt magic.

"So, JD, I was thinking that we could go out tomorrow night to celebrate you being allowed to go back to work. It's not everyday that my best bud has to take a four day medical leave."

JD's body completely tensed up. "Um....I can't...I mean...I don't think I'm up for it."

Turk's brow furrowed. "Why not man?"

"Well...we got to go to work the next day?"

"We don't have to stay out very late or anything. I just thought maybe you'd want to celebrate."

Carla looked up from her book and studied JD carefully; it was obvious that he was nervous. "Um...I just don't-"

"Turk, honey, it's obvious JD is still pretty worn out after the accident. You should let him rest before he has to go to work." Turk looked from Carla to JD, and JD nodded enthusiastically. "We can all go out this weekend; we can even invite Elliot."

Turk shrugged. "Okay."

Carla then closed her book and stood up from her chair. She walked over to the couch and sat down between Turk and JD. She put her head on Turk shoulder and rested her hand on Turk's thigh. "Why don't we go out and get dinner tomorrow night?" It was obvious that Turk was very happy with the idea of going out to "dinner."

"Um...yeah, Baby. That sounds great."

Carla turned toward JD and gave him an all-knowing smirk. Somehow, JD knew that Carla knew there was now more going on between him and Dr. Cox. JD was going to have to thank her, just as soon as Turk was no longer around.

XVIIIIV

Sleep seemed to be alluding him once again, so instead of laying in his bed for hours attempting to fall asleep, JD crawled out of bed and made his way to the living room to watch some late night TV. He hadn't even been out there for ten minutes before the door of Turk and Carla's room opened. Carla walked out into the living room and sat down on the couch next to JD.

"Can't sleep?" she said quietly.

"I've got a lot of things on my mind," JD replied with a shrug.

"So...what are you and Dr. Cox up to tomorrow?"

JD's jaw dropped. "How-how did you know?"

"Oh come on, JD. You guys told me the other day there was something going on between the two of you, and today, you disappear for an hour. I'm not dumb, JD. So, what are you two up to?"

JD's cheeks turned a faint red. "We're going to a movie."

Carla shook her head. "Like a date?"

JD nodded. "I guess."

"You actually talked Dr. Perry Cox into going out on a date?"

"It wasn't really that hard. He just didn't really want to go someplace very public."

"I just can't imagine Dr. Cox out on a date...with anyone really."

"Did you go out with him once?"

"Yeah, which is one of the reasons why I can't imagine him on a date."

JD flipped the channel a few times and then leaned his head back on the couch. "Do you think I'm making a mistake, Carla?"

"I think you're making a mistake not telling Turk."

"I will tell him, Carla. Just...just give me time. This whole situation confuses the hell out of me." JD threw an arm over his face. "Hell, I didn't even know I really _liked _guys until the accident."

Carla set a comforting hand on JD's shoulder and rubbed it gently. "Everything is going to be okay, Bambi. As for whether or not I think you're making a mistake, no, I don't. If Dr. Cox wasn't at least remotely serious about this, he would never have showed up at the apartment or agreed to go to a movie with you. Okay?" JD nodded, but didn't take the arm off his face. "You really should get some sleep, Bambi; you've got a big date tomorrow." She gave his shoulder a playful shove, and JD laughed.

"Okay," said JD, removing his arm from his face and standing up. He turned back to Carla. "Thanks."

"No problem, Bambi."

JD went back to his bedroom, and after a few more minutes of sitting in the television-lit living room, Carla turned off the TV and went back to her own room.

XVIIIIV

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and that everyone was pretty much in character. I do not know when the next chapter will be up, but it will probably be soon.


	6. Chapter VI: The Release

Title: The Plunge

Author: Ryo314

Rating: T

Spoilers: None

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters nor the concept of Scrubs.

Summary: An accident brings Perry and JD closer...a lot closer.

Note: The quote has very little to do with this chapter; I just really liked it.

**Warning: **This is a slash story: JD/Perry. If you do not like these stories, please stop reading because all flames based on the fact this is a slash story will be cruelly mocked along with their flamer in the next chapter.

**The Plunge**

Chapter VI: The Release

"_A man said to the universe: 'Sir, I exist!' 'However,' replied the universe. 'The fact has not created in me A sense of obligation." Stephen Crane_

JD stood in front a certain door on the edge of hyperventilating; what he wanted to do more than anything else in the world was run in the opposite direction. Sure, Dr. Cox had said he would go out on this date, but what if the older doctor hadn't actually meant it.

_JD knocked cautiously on the door and waited. Several minutes went by before the door was yanked open abruptly. A very annoyed looking Dr. Cox stood in the doorway glaring at JD._

"_What are you doing here, Samantha?" He crossed him arms; apparently his shoulder wasn't bothering him anymore._

"_Um...I thought we were going to a movie?" JD mumbled quietly._

"_Now why would we be going to a movie? I can't stand you."_

"_But you said we could go on a date so long as it wasn't very you know...public?"_

_Dr. Cox shook his head. "Newbie, I would never ever go on a date with you. I suggest you leave before I make you. You got that, Newbie? Newbie...Newbie...NEWBIE!"_

JD shook his head and looked straight ahead; Dr. Cox was standing in the doorway of his apartment staring at him.

"Newbie, are you going to stand out in the hall all day or are you going to come into the apartment because I think if you stand out there all night my neighbors will start complaining."

JD felt his cheeks turn bright red and sheepishly walked past Dr. Cox and into the apartment. He took a seat on the couch, but was then tempted to stand right back up since Dr. Cox hadn't actually told him to sit down; he then decided to just stare down at his hands.

"What fantasy had you so entranced that you stood out in the hall for five minutes just staring at my door?"

"What?" asked JD, looking up from his hands.

"Was it the BackStreet Boys or were you imagining how good you would look in some dress you saw on your way over here?"

JD shrugged, feeling his cheeks turn even more red. "I-I was just distracted."

"Whatever, Newbie," said Dr. Cox, shaking his head.

Neither one of them really looked like they were going out on some big date; JD had on a pair of jeans and a hoodie, and Dr. Cox was dressed in jeans and what JD thought was yet another hockey jersey.

"Soo...." JD was trying to kill the silence between the two of them; they seemed to have a lot of those. "What movie are we going to go see?"

"_Master and Commander_," replied Dr. Cox.

"What's it about?"

"I have no idea," replied Dr. Cox. "It's was just the only movie at the theater that didn't look completely idiotic; it was your idea to go to a movie."

"Oh...well...can we get popcorn?"

"No." Dr. Cox looked at his watch. "Considering the movie starts in about half an hour, we should probably leave. I still don't have a car, so we're either going to have to walk or take the bus."

JD nodded and stood up from the couch. He wasn't sure if he was ready for either the long awkward walk or the slightly shorter awkward bus ride.

XVIIIIV

Perry had no idea what the movie he'd just seen had been about, mainly because of a certain doctor who'd been sitting in the seat next to him. While Perry would never say it aloud, especially to JD, he liked being around the younger man; sometimes, he even liked when JD was rambling on about absolutely nothing of importance.

When they'd gotten to the movie theater, Perry had tried his best to not make it obvious he was paying for JD's ticket. He didn't really want the people around him to notice, and he also didn't really want JD to notice; the second thing didn't happen. JD was psyched when he Perry paying for his ticket, and was about about to say something about, but a glare from Dr. Cox stopped him.

Once they were in the movie, rambling was all JD did, even after the movie had started. At one point, someone, in the rather empty theater, turned around and shushed JD; after Perry had given the man a death stare, he didn't do it again. The truth of the matter was Perry was beginning to enjoy JD's pointless rambling, and he liked just being with the younger man more.

After the movie, JD and Perry had gone back to his apartment. JD was sitting on the couch again, and after a few minutes of what definitely seemed like pacing, Perry sat down next to him. There was another awkward silence between the two before JD spoke; the silences definitely seemed to be getting shorter.

"Why did you pay for my ticket?" asked JD nervously.

"You wanted a date, Georgia," replied Perry with a shrug. "I gave you a date."

There was another brief pause in their conversation. "Are you going to leave me if Jordan comes back?"

"What are you talking about, Newbie?"

"Everyone knows that one week you and Jordan hate each other and the next, you two can stand each other again. I don't want to just be some little-little...toy that you use until she comes back and also-"

JD never got the next part out; he was too busy focusing on the fact that Perry was kissing him. Perry was suddenly pushing JD pack onto the couch, and JD was quickly giving into Perry's ministrations. JD gasped when he felt Perry's hand slip under his shirt, and Perry took advantage of that moment by slipping his tongue into JD's mouth.

They continued on in this fashion for several minutes until Perry reached down to the button of JD's jeans. When the button was undone, Perry felt JD tense up, and he pulled back from the younger man. "Newbie, you okay?"

JD turned red. "I-I'm...not..." JD stammered, but it didn't seem like he was going to be able to form a coherent sentence.

Even without anything JD was saying making sense, Perry figured out what he meant. "It's okay, Newbie," said Perry, sitting up. It was a little hard considering his shoulder was still sore as hell, but he managed to sit up without falling back onto to JD.

"So you're-you're..."

"I'm not going to rape you if that is what you're trying to get out there, Diana."

JD turned bright red. "I didn't think-"

"I was kidding, Newbie. Besides, I'm sure I'll get my chance to deflower you." JD turned even more red. "Newbie, we both have to go back to the fourth level of Hell, also known as Sacred heart, tomorrow, so I suggest we both get some sleep."

JD nodded and then tentatively slid down the couch next to Perry. It was kind of awkward, but JD kissed Perry again. JD headed toward the door, leaving Perry sitting on the couch. Once the door was shut, Perry let a smile slip onto his face. Maybe, and that was a big maybe at the moment, things were going to work out.

XVIIIIV

When JD got back to his apartment, he all but collapsed onto the couch with a huge smile planted on his face. He had no idea what the movie they'd seen had been about. There was a ship in it, and that was about all he could recall from the movie. He'd spent most of the movie rambling on about other movies. JD was sure at one point Dr. Cox would have told him to be quiet, but that never happened. In fact, the only person who told him to be quiet was some guy who was sitting in front of them; he only did that once, however.

JD had only been back at the apartment for a few minutes when the door suddenly opened, and Carla and Turk walked back into the apartment. Carla gave him a brief wave and then headed to the bedroom. Turk, who had a huge smile on his face, sat down on the couch next to JD.

"Hey, VB. How was your night?"

"Pretty good, Chocolate Bear. I take it you and Carla had a good night out too."

Turk's smile got bigger. "Oh yeah." He studied JD carefully. "What's with the huge smile?"

"Huh?"

"You've got a bigger smile than normal on, man. Why?"

"Oh...um...there was an episode of _Gilmore Girls _on right before you two got back; it was a nice little late night surprise."

Turk looked at the clock. "It got over at 11:53?"

"I think it was just a filler after some movie or something."

"Ah. Man, VB. We've got to find you a date."

When Turk said that, JD almost burst out laughing. _If only he knew._

Their conversation was brought to an abrupt end when Carla called Turk's name. Turk gave JD a pat on the shoulder and then ran for the bedroom. The door shut quickly, and JD shook his head. He stood from the couch and then went to his own room. He quickly changed into his pajamas and then climbed into bed. Once he was laying down, JD finally got a moment to think about what had been going on the last few days. Days after the accident, JD still couldn't believe that Dr. Cox actually liked him..._liked _him. The date and what happened after the date was still hard for JD to believe happened.

For a moment, JD felt guilty for not telling Turk what was going on between him and Dr. Cox. Carla knew, which had been unintentional, but it was different with Carla; at least Dr. Cox could almost stand Carla. JD sighed and then turned on his side. He thought he was going to be able to get a good night's sleep, but now with the guilt of not telling Turk what was going on weighing on his mind, JD would be lucky if he got any sleep at all.

XVIIIIV

The first week back at the hospital went relatively well. Other than Carla, no one else at the hospital seemed to be aware that anything was different between JD and Dr. Cox; it probably helped that Dr. Cox didn't really treat JD any differently. He continued to call JD girl names and Newbie, and sometimes, maybe a little less than now, yelled at JD for stupid things.

The only thing that was different was the brief "breaks" that JD and Dr. Cox would take together. They had taken to using the supply closet for something other than getting supplies. In fact, it was after one of these brief breaks that JD got two new patients.

"Here you go, Bambi," said Carla, handing JD two clipboards as he walked past the nurses station.

"What are these?" asked JD, flipping up the page of one of the clipboards.

"Your two new patients: Max Cannon and Caitlin Howards. They are conveniently in rooms right next to each other."

"Why is this Max kid up here? He's only seven. Shouldn't he be down in pediatrics?"

"With flu and cold season getting into full swing, pediatrics is full of kids who have gotten the worst of it, so they moved Max up here."

JD nodded. "What seems to be the matter with the kid?"

"That I'm not sure, but it should be in his chart. His vitals and everything had already been taken by the time they moved him up here."

JD nodded and glanced briefly at Max's chart. _Geeze. Seven years old. Hospitals are never fun, but it's even worse when you're a kid._

JD shook his head and then looked at the next chart. _Caitlin Howards: 19. Geeze! What is with all these kids coming in here? I just called a nineteen-year-old a kid. I feel old._

JD continued looking through Caitlin's chart. "Wait! It says here that Caitlin Howards is supposed to be going into surgery tonight."

"That's been canceled. Apparently when they were doing some pre-surgery tests, they found something wrong."

"Okay," said JD, letting go of the papers. "I've got patients to deal with."

"Before you go, Bambi, I've got something I need to tell you."

JD, who'd began to walk away, turned back toward Carla. "Yeah?" Carla gestured for JD to come closer, and the young doctor listened. "What, Carla?"

Carla leaned forward and said quietly. "If you and Dr. Cox don't want the entire hospital to know about your relationship, I suggest you stop making out in the supply closet. Someone is going to catch you guys; I saw you two walking out of there earlier."

JD turned bright red. "Really?"

"Yeah, Bambi."

"Um...Turk...Turk didn't happen..."

"No, Bambi, but you still need to tell him."

"I will," said JD. "I will, just not yet." He looked down at the clipboards. "I've got to take care of these patients." Carla nodded, and JD walked away from the nurse's station with the clipboards under his arm.

His first stop was Caitlin Howards' room. He walked in to find a very tired looking young blond woman lying in the room's bed. Her long blond hair looked pretty messed up, and before JD could even begin talking, the girl had broke out into a coughing fit. JD flipped through her chart again, looking to see what kind of surgery the girl was supposed to have tonight.

_She's supposed to have her gallbladder removed; coughing really doesn't fit in with that._ He flipped through her chart more and found why her surgery had been put off. Her gallbladder, which apparently had been giving her problems since August, had become inflamed. They had already began giving her antibiotics, but JD still needed to know if there was something else was wrong with the young girl.

"Hello," said JD loudly. The girl rolled her head to the side to look at JD. "I'm Dr. Dorian."

"Cat," replied the girl; her voice was gravelly.

"So, what seems to be the problem?"

Cat shrugged her shoulders. "All I know..." She broke into another coughing fit. "All I know is that I was supposed to be going into surgery tonight to get my freaking gallbladder removed, and then they moved me up here. I take it I'm not going to be getting my gallbladder removed yet."

"Unfortunately, no."

Cat rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Oh well. What's another few days of-" Cat once again broke into a coughing fit and groped for the tissues that had been placed alongside her bed. She coughed a few more times into the tissue and then threw it into the trashcan. "Sorry," she murmured as she leaned back against her pillows.

"It's okay. Um...how long have you had this cold?"

"Going on two weeks. College life does nothing for a person's health."

"What school do you go to?"

"The Illinois Institute of Technology; it's in Chicago."

"Long ways away."

"CalTech was too expensive."

"So, is this your winter break?"

Cat nodded. "I get to send it in the hospital apparently. I was supposed to get my tests, and then my parents were coming in. This, however, is an interesting...." More coughing. "Change in plans. I called my parents; they should be here soon."

JD nodded. "Well, it seems as though your gallbladder has become inflamed; we can't remove it until the inflammation is gone because it's too risky."

"Great," mumbled Cat sarcastically; she then looked up at JD. "I don't mean to sound rude or anything like that, but this wasn't really how I planned to start my winter break."

JD nodded in understanding. "Well-" Before he could finish his sentence, his pager suddenly went off. He looked at it quickly and then sighed. "Look, I have to go, but I will be back later. Maybe by then your parents will be here, and I can explain everything that is going on."

Cat nodded and then closed her eyes. JD wondered if she was asleep before he even got out of the room. JD ran into Carla on his way out and grabbed hold of her arm. "Carla, could you do me a favor?"

"Sure, Bambi. What is it?"

"My new patient, Caitlin Howards, is here for an inflamed gallbladder, but I'm thinking there she might have bronchitis or pneumonia. She has this terrible cough that she's said she's had for two weeks. Can you check her out please? I've got to go see Max Cannon."

"Sure, Bambi. I've got another patient to run vitals on, but I can take of it."

"Thanks, Carla." JD gave her a smile and then headed to the room next to Caitlin Howards'. The scene in the young boy's room was completely different from the scene in Caitlin's room. Max, well who JD assumed was Max considering he was the only seven year old in the room, was laying on the hospital bed, playing with a Rubix Cube. His mother was on one side of the bed, and his father was on the other side, coaching his son's moves with the Rubix Cube.

"Hello," said JD, walking into the room. "I'm Dr. Dorian."

Max's father stood up and shook JD's hand. "I'm Dean Cannon, and this is my wife, Hannah. This is our son, Max."

"Okay, well, what seems to be the problem, Max?" asked JD, taking a step toward the bed.

"I hurt my knee," said Max, figuring that would be enough for JD to fix him. He studied JD for a moment. "What happened to your face?"

"Max!" exclaimed his mother.

JD just laughed and turned toward Hannah Cannon. "It's okay; I know I probably look pretty strange." He turned back toward Max. "I got into a car accident a few days ago. I've stitches in my head like you have in your knee. I actually need to get them removed pretty soon."

"Can I see?"

JD nodded and carefully pulled back the bandage to show the young boy his stitches.

"Cool!" exclaimed Max. "Is it gonna scar?"

"I don't think so; a really good doctor stitched me up." JD covered his stitches back up. "Okay, why don't I take a look at your stitches?" JD pulled back the blanket to take a look at Max's knee. There was a stitched up cut across his left knee that was red and puffy.

"What happened?" asked JD.

"I fell in the woods," explained Max. "I was being chased by natives."

"Really? Did they catch you?"

"No. When I fell, I managed to hide from them."

"Ah...Good move."

It was after this conversation that Max's mother jumped in to explain. "There is this little wooded area behind our house that Max likes to play in; he fell about a week and a half ago, and we took him to the emergency room to get it stitched up. The next day, it was very red, but we figured that it might just be because of the fact he just got cut the day before. But it wasn't going away, so we took him back to the doctor. The doctor thought that maybe the cut hadn't been cleaned well enough. He reopened the cut and cleaned it again. Then he prescribed some antibiotics. The redness didn't go down, however, so we took him back to the hospital. First they sent him to pediatrics, and then they sent him up here." It was apparent that Hannah Cannon was very upset by the situation, but she was trying her best to hold it together for her son.

"Okay," said JD, making several notes down on Max's chart. "It sounds like the cut may have developed an infection; I'm going to have a nurse come in here to run some blood tests, and just an a precaution I'm going to start him on some antibiotics. We'll see how things go from there." JD turned toward Max. "Max, does you knee hurt?"

"A little," replied the boy, still fumbling around with the Rubix Cube.

JD nodded. "I'll also start him on a mild painkiller; if the pain gets any worse, we can move him up to a stronger one, but I don't want to overwhelm him with a bunch of medications."

"When can I go home?" asked Max.

JD smiled at the kid, but on the inside, he felt bad for him; he certainly couldn't make the kid any promises. Suddenly, JD spotted the Rubix Cube and an idea hit him. "I bet I have you out of here before you can solve that Rubix Cube, kay?" Max smiled and nodded enthusiastically.

"Okay. I will send a nurse in to do some blood work and start him on the antibiotics. Any questions?"

Both of Max's parents didn't seem to have any questions, and so JD left the room. Although one thought refused to leave his head. _Man, I hope that kid can't solve that Rubix Cube._

XVIIIIV

I hope you all enjoyed.


	7. Chapter VII: The Weightlessness

Title: The Plunge

Author: Ryo314

Rating: T

Spoilers: None

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters nor the concept of Scrubs.

Summary: An accident brings Perry and JD closer...a lot closer.

Note: I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter, and this one too. Special thanks to bellsoftomorrow for always reviewing and writing awesome stories. Read and review. Happy Turkey Day!

**Warning: **This is a slash story: JD/Perry. If you do not like these stories, please stop reading because all flames based on the fact this is a slash story will be cruelly mocked along with their flamer in the next chapter.

**The Plunge**

Chapter VII: The Weightlessness

"_To be capable of steady friendship or lasting love, are the two greatest proofs, not only of goodness of heart, but strength of mind." Paul Aubuchon_

JD sat in the cafeteria later that day, trying his best to ignore the dull ache in his arm; the Janitor had decided not to leave a wet floor sign in front of a place he just mopped when JD just so happened to be walking down the hall. Needless to say, JD's bad arm had taken a hit; he was pretty sure it was okay, however. It definitely didn't feel like it had when he'd first broken it. He was only a few bites into his lunch when Carla and Elliot decided to join him.

"So, JD," said Elliot enthusiastically. "How is your first day back after that unexpected vacation?"

"Fine, Elliot. How is your day of work after no unexpected vacation?"

"Good."

Carla shook her head at Elliot and JD's ridiculous conversation and then began speaking. "I ran those tests you wanted for Caitlin Howards; you were right. In addition to having an inflamed gallbladder, the poor girl has pneumonia."

JD shook his head. "She told me she had that cold for nearly two weeks."

"She never got herself checked out?" asked Elliot, taking a bite of the salad she'd bought.

"She's a college student," replied Carla. "When you were in college, how often did you go and get yourself check up for what you thought was a cold?"

"Um...well...I mean it's kind of different for you, me, and JD. We work in the medical field; we know the signs of something serious."

JD and Carla both seemed to ignore Elliot's explanation. "I'm going to have to tell her that her surgery will be postponed even more."

"What's she supposed to have surgery for?" asked Elliot.

"She's supposed to have her gallbladder removed, but at the moment, it's inflamed," explained JD.

"How's Mrs. Daniels doing?" asked Elliot, changing the subject. She remember giving Mrs. Daniels to JD just before the car wreck.

"She was discharged while I was out, but the doctor who took over for me while I was out said she was doing really well when she was discharged."

"What about your other new patient?" asked Carla.

"Apparently, he cut open his knee about two weeks ago, and it's gotten pretty infected. I've started him on some strong antibiotics, and I'm hoping that's going to be enough to stop this infection."

Elliot shook her head. "It must suck to have to be in the hospital when it's getting this close to the holidays."

Both JD and Carla nodded in agreement; however, they had worked in the hospital long to know that it was sometimes unavoidable for a person to spend the holidays in the hospital.

JD checked his watch and then hastily shoved a couple of bites into his mouth. "I've got to get going." He shoved a few more bites into his mouth. "See you guys later."

"Wait, Bambi," said Carla, "before you go, Turk was looking for you earlier."

JD nodded and gave Carla a thumbs up but didn't say anything because his mouth was stuffed with food. He hurried out of the cafeteria, after putting away the tray, and walked quickly down the hall. He was startled when someone grabbed hold of his arm, and he almost choked on the mouthful food he hadn't swallowed yet.

"You should be more careful about what you eat, Lorraine. If you want to hang onto me you need to watch your figure."

JD turned bright red and hastily swallowed the food in his mouth. "I didn't really eat that much."

"I was joking, Newbie."

"Oh...I...um..I knew that." JD smiled. "I am actually heading down to a patient's room."

"Don't run too fast and trip in your heels there, Caitlin," muttered Dr. Cox as he continued down the hall.

Hearing the name "Caitlin" reminded JD that he needed to get down to the patient of the same name's room. "I have to get going." JD hurried down the hall, hoping that Dr. Cox wouldn't be annoyed at the fact he was ignoring him.

JD slowed his pace just as he entered Caitlin Howards' room. The scene was a little different this time. There was an older man wearing a suit, looking out the window casually talking to the girl in the bed; a rather plump woman was sitting by Caitlin's bed, talking at a hundred miles an hour. All three people in the room looked up at JD when he cleared his throat.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Dorian. I'm..." JD took an educated stab in the dark. "Your daughter's doctor."

The woman gave him a friendly smile; she was obviously a person who was happy a majority of the time. The man turned away from the window and crossed the room to shake JD's hand. While he didn't give him a smile like the woman had, JD could tell the man was still very friendly. "I'm Greg Howards."

"I'm Betty Howards," said the woman from her spot next to her daughter's bed.

"Still Cat," said Caitlin. She was now accessorized with a nasal cannulas and an IV; JD felt a twinge of guilt for having to put the girl through more of an ordeal. He also noticed that the right side of the girl's upper lip was pierced. _Man! I wonder if that hurt?!_

"Okay, well, let me explain a few things about what is going on with your daughter's health." JD took a deep breath. "It seems that her gallbladder is inflamed, and we cannot go forth with the surgery until the inflammation has gone down. If we were to attempt the surgery, it would put her at risk for the infection spreading to the rest of her body."

Caitlin sighed, and her mother put a comforting hand on her shoulder. It was apparent that Caitlin had been looking forward to getting her gallbladder removed, and JD could understand. He'd been told that the pain from a gallbladder attack was excruciating.

"Unfortunately, in addition to her gallbladder, Cat, you have pneumonia."

"You're joking?" said Caitlin; however, her voice was gravelly from the illness and only served to prove JD's point. "Wouldn't I have noticed if I had pneumonia?"

"It probably started as something much less serious and progressed."

Betty shook her head. "I told you to go to health services." Caitlin rolled her eyes.

"We've already started treating the pneumonia, and as soon as that is under control and your gallbladder is okay, we can do the surgery, and you can get out of here."

"About how long do you think that will be?" asked Greg. JD was actually kind of startled that the man had spoke.

"Um...well...I can't really make any promises. It's going to be at least a few days."

Caitlin sighed again. "Not really how I wanted to start my winter break," she muttered quietly; her mother patted her shoulder again.

"Umm...before I go, can I ask you about that-" JD was cut off before he could finish his question.

"No, it didn't hurt." Both of Caitlin's parents rolled their eyes, and JD had to wonder if Caitlin's piercing was a sensitive subject.

"How did you know that was my question?"

"It's what everyone asks."

"Well, if you have anymore questions, don't hesitate to ask a nurse or me. Any questions?"

Betty, Greg, and Caitlin all shook there heads. Giving them all a smile, JD left the room. He nearly walked smack dab into Turk.

"Hey, V-Bear. I have been looking all over for you. Where have you been?"

"Around, Chocolate Bear."

"You haven't been hiding behind the vending machines again, have you? That isn't good for your arm."

"I haven't been hiding behind the vending machines...today. I got a few new patients, and it kind of made my day a lot busier. Which reminds me? You weren't by chance scheduled to do surgery on a Caitlin Howards, were you?"

Turk's brow furrowed as he tried to remember whether or not Caitlin Howards had been on his schedule. "The name sounds familiar, but I can't say for sure."

"Her surgery was canceled?" added JD, hoping to jog Turk's memory; even if Caitlin hadn't originally been on his schedule, he wanted her to be on his schedule later. There was no surgeon in the hospital he trusted more than Turk.

"I actually had two surgeries canceled today. Um...let's see...a bypass and uh...a cholecystectomy."

"That would be Caitlin Howards; she was supposed to have her gallbladder removed, but it became inflamed."

"Why you wondering if she was one of my patients?"

"Just wanting to make sure she had the best surgeon in the place."

"Thanks, V-Bear." The two friends started down the hall together.

"Carla said you were looking for me earlier."

"Yeah, I was."

"And the reason was..."

"I just hadn't seen you all day, and I was wondering where you were. Man, it seemed like I hardly saw you when you had to stay home those days." There was a pause. "Are you hiding something from me?"

JD's stomach flip-flopped. "Of-of course not." _LIAR! _"You're my best friend, man."

"Yeah. You know, I'm sorry. I mean you did just get into a car wreck; you're probably still tired and everything."

"Yeah. Just tired." He checked his watch. "I got to get going. I'll see you later, Chocolate Bear." JD hurried off down the hall.

XVIIIIV

The next several days for JD were definitely not the best they could be. While a few of his previous patients were released, a few more came in. Two specific patients were weighing heavily on his mind: Max Cannon and Caitlin Howards. While Caitlin hadn't really made any progress either good or bad, Max was making progress...and it wasn't for the better. The antibiotics he'd given the boy were not fighting the infection.

"What's wrong?" asked Dean Cannon.

JD sighed as he put Max's blanket back down gently; the kid's knee was sore. "The particular antibiotic that we have your son on isn't working to fight the infection." JD paused. "We're going to try a stronger antibiotic." JD turned toward Max. "Does your knee still hurt?"

Max shrugged. "Not really."

"Okay," said JD. "But you remember, if your knee starts hurting really bad, you tell your parents or a nurse or me, and we'll take care of it right away."

Max nodded and then looked down at his hands. "Dr. Dorian?"

"You can call me JD, if you want."

Max nodded again. "JD, are you sure I'll be out before I solve the cube?"

"I'm gonna try."

Max sighed and reached into the drawer in the table by his bed and pulled out the Rubix Cube; Three sides were complete.

"Wow," said JD, his eyes going wide. "You're really good." There was a cold feeling in his gut.

"I like puzzles," replied Max.

"He can solve a huge jigsaw puzzle in just a couple of hours," Max's mother added.

JD let out a deep breath. "Max, I am going to try and have you out of here as soon as possible, okay?"

Max nodded and gave JD a small smile. "Okay."

JD looked up Max's parents. "If you guys have any other questions or concerns, feel free to ask."

Dean Cannon stepped forward. "Will this antibiotic, the one you're going to switch him to, work?"

JD sighed. "I'm pretty sure that it is going to work, but there is always a chance it won't."

"And if it doesn't work?"

"We'll try another."

"And if that one doesn't work?"

"We may have to take more drastic actions."

"Such as?"

"We'll worry about them if we have to deal with them. Right now, we need to think about this next antibiotic working." JD paused, waiting to see if either of Max's parents had any other questions. "I'll be back later, don't hesitate to ask the nurses or me any questions." He gave the family a hopeful smile as he left the room.

Instead of turning toward the nurse's to drop off the chart in his hands, JD turned the hospital direction and headed for a seldom busy hallway. Max and Caitlin were both weighing heavily on his mind.

_It's probably because they're so young. Think about it. When an older person comes in, you're trying to prevent something from hurting them anymore so they can live longer. You should have to be struggling to make sure a nineteen year old lives longer, and you definitely shouldn't be having to make sure a seven year old lives longer. Those aren't people who should be fighting to have a long life._ JD sighed. _I don't know how the doctors who always work pediatrics do it._

By the time JD had run through all of his thoughts, he reached the middle of the empty hall. Normally, he could deal with his patients, but after the wreck and the fact they were just kids and that he was now technically "with" Dr. Cox (even if no one besides Carla knew it), it was just becoming too much to handle at the moment.

JD leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. He was trying to will away the weight of the day, but it just seemed to make it sit heavier in his chest. JD had been standing like this for several minutes when a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Did you break a nail, Nicole?"

JD looked up and saw Dr. Cox walking toward him from the door at the end of the hallway. "What are you doing here?" asked JD, standing up straight.

"Trying to avoid all the annoying people in the hospital; I failed because I ran into you." JD shook his head, but didn't respond. Dr. Cox crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows. "What's the matter, princess?"

"You know, I really don't want to talk about it."

"Sorry. I didn't know you were pmsing." JD scoffed, but didn't say anything. "What's wrong?"

"You're just going to make fun of me."

JD heard Dr. Cox sigh. "I'm not going to make fun of you, JD."

JD sighed and looked up at Dr. Cox. "I've got two patients right now; a girl who is nineteen, and a boy who is seven. The girl has pneumonia and an inflamed gallbladder, and she hasn't gotten any better or any worse." JD paused for a moment and swallowed hard. "The boy has a bad infection due to a cut on his knee; I've put him on a second antibiotic, but then the kid's dad got into a conversation with me about what would happen if the antibiotics didn't work." JD took a deep breath because his last sentence came out all in one breath and hung his head. "Kids shouldn't be in the hospital."

Dr. Cox stepped forward and put an arm around JD. "Sometimes, kids end up in the hospital, Newbie. You know that."

"Yeah. I know." JD took a deep breath and leaned against Dr. Cox; except for what they did in the supply closet, Dr. Cox seldom showed any other affection for JD at the hospital. "It doesn't really make it any easier."

"Newbie, I'm only gonna say this once: that boy and girl have a damn good doctor working on them. They're going to be fine."

XVIIIIV

Dr. Cox leaned down and gave JD a kiss before taking his arm off JD's shoulder. Unbeknown to both of them, however, someone else had come down the hallway, looking for JD. That person's jaw dropped when he saw the two men kissing.

"What the Hell?" shouted the person.

JD and Dr. Cox both turned toward the person; JD turned pale. "Turk, I can explain!"

XVIIIIV

Thanks for reading. I hope you all enjoyed.


	8. Chapter VIII: The Sudden Drop

Title: The Plunge

Author: Ryo314

Rating: T

Spoilers: None

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters nor the concept of Scrubs.

Summary: An accident brings Perry and JD closer...a lot closer.

Note: I would like to explain something that one of the reviewers figured out. The names of the chapters are named for the steps involved in riding a Skycoaster. The Skycoaster is my absolute favorite ride at Six Flags. I recommend them to anyone who loves roller coasters. Here is the link to a video of one .com/watch?v=w95VaJoUKUg. Please Read and Review.

**Warning: **This is a slash story: JD/Perry. If you do not like these stories, please stop reading because all flames based on the fact this is a slash story will be cruelly mocked along with their flamer in the next chapter.

**The Plunge**

Chapter VIII: The Sudden Drop

"_Ours lives improve only when we take chances-and the first and most difficult risk we can take is be honest with ourselves." Walter Anderson_

"What the Hell is going on, JD?" demanded Turk, walking toward JD and Dr. Cox.

"Um...Turk...well...you see..." JD obviously wasn't coming up with anything.

"I can't believe this!" Turk yelled angrily. He shook his head and walked away.

"Turk!" JD shouted, taking a few steps after his friend. Turk just waved him off and continued down the hall. "Turk!"

"Well..." said Dr. Cox. "It seems that your friend Ghandi is actually psming worse than you."

JD turned back toward Dr. Cox and shook his head; he then hurried off down the hall. Spotting Carla at the nurse's station when he got to the top of the hall, JD rushed over to her. "Did Turk come by here?"

"Yeah," replied Carla. "I tried to talk to him, but he just ignored me. Do you know what's going on?"

JD groaned and put his head down on the station. "Yes...."

"What's going on, Bambi?" Carla set her hand on JD's arm.

"Turk knows about me and Dr. Cox. He...he...he saw us kissing in the hall."

"You and Dr. Cox were kissing in the hall?!" Carla whispered in shock. Luckily there was no one else near the station to hear them.

JD nodded. "He freaked."

"I told you to tell him; you knew he would get angry if he found out another way."

"I know!" JD nearly shouted. "I...I just didn't know how to tell him."

"Well obviously letting him catch you and Dr. Cox making out was not the way."

"We were not making out!"

"Who wasn't making out?"

Carla and JD looked up simultaneously to see Elliot leaning on the nurse's station smiling at them. "Elliot?!" said JD and Carla in unison.

"That would be me. Now, who wasn't making out?" She seemed eager to get some gossip.

"Um..." said JD. "No one. Now, I've got to go find Turk. Bye." He rushed away from the nurse's station without another word.

Elliot watched JD runaway for a moment and then turned back toward Carla. "Um...Carla?"

"Yeah?"

"What was that about?"

"I-I have no idea." Carla grabbed a few of the charts sitting on top of the nurse's station and hurried off; Elliot just watched in confusion.

XVIIIIV

JD slowly pushed open the door to the roof and spotted Turk standing near the edge, staring down at the ground. JD stuffed his hands into the pockets of his scrubs to fight against the cold wind and walked over toward his friend. For a few minutes, both of them said nothing, but then Turk broke the silence.

"I figured you'd find me soon enough. Thought I had a little bit more time though."

JD shrugged. "Elliot interrupted me and Carla, and I had to get away before she started to ask too many questions."

"I take it she doesn't know about you and Dr. Cox either?" The question was asked in a bitter tone.

"No." JD sighed. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"Yeah. Why didn't you tell me? I thought you were my best friend."

"I don't know. I didn't know how you would take it."

"Is it because Dr. Cox is a guy? Because JD, I really don't care if you like guys or girls."

"I didn't think you would care that it was a guy; it was more because it was Dr. Cox. I mean how was I was supposed to tell you that I liked the guy who's done nothing but make fun of me for the last three years?"

"There's a start." Turk and JD both paused. "When did it happen?"

"After the wreck," replied JD. "That's where I went when I was off work."

"So you lied about there being something going on with you, too, huh?" JD looked down at his feet and nodded; Turk shook his head. "I can't believe you. I thought we were best friends."

"We are!"

Turk turned toward JD and poked him in the shoulder. "You kept a huge change in your life from me! That is not what a best friend does!" Turk started to walk away.

"I was scared!"

Turk stopped dead in his tracks and turned back to JD. "What?"

"I was scared, Turk. I have never liked a guy before; I was trying to deal with that before I dealt with the entire world knowing."

"You were scared?"

"Yeah. I was scared because I liked a guy and because I didn't know how everyone else would take it."

"JD, I don't care that you like another man. Granted, I don't really want to hear any details, but it wouldn't change the fact you're my best friend."

"Really, Chocolate Bear?"

"Yeah, Vanilla Bear." Turk put his arm around JD's shoulders. "It doesn't matter who you like, you'll always be my best friend...unless it's Carla. If it was Carla, I would have to kick your ass."

JD laughed. "It's not Carla."

There was another long pause. "So...um...do like just guys or um..."

"I think I like guys and girls. I like Dr. Cox, but at the same time, I still think that Elliot is hot and everything. I think I'm bi."

Turk nodded. "I have to ask you a question, V-Bear."

"Yeah, Turk?"

"Does...does Dr. Cox...is he nice to you? You said that this has been going on since the car wreck, but he doesn't seem to treat you any different."

JD shrugged. "He still calls me girl names, but not as often. He calls me JD sometimes. We talk a little. Yeah...he treats me nice."

"Good." Turk nodded. "I would have to kick his ass if he was mistreating my best friend."

JD laughed again, but then his face turned serious. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, Chocolate Bear."

"It's okay, V-Bear. Just remember, you can tell me anything." There was another pause. "You know, I think we ought to go in before we freeze to death."

Turk agreed and both doctors headed toward the roof's door.

XVIIIIV

Perry was leaning against the nurse's station studying a chart; just as he flipped a page a smug voice startled him from his thoughts. "Smooth move, Perry?"

Perry looked up from the chart and turned toward Carla, who was staring at him with her arms crossed. "Do you mean my turning of the page because I have to tell you, it's not really that hard."

"You know what I mean, Perry."

"Ah...you mean about Newbie's girlfriend finding out about his boyfriend." Carla's eyes went wide, but Perry continued talking. "She didn't really take it well; to be honest, neither girl did." Carla continued to stare at him. "What?"

"You just said you were JD's boyfriend." Carla raised her eyebrow.

Perry shook his head and laughed nervously. "No I didn't."

"You said, and I quote, ' you mean about Newbie's girlfriend finding out about his boyfriend.' End quote." She studied Perry for a moment. "You're really serious about this relationship, aren't you?"

Before Carla could needle the answer out of him, a loud voice interrupted them. "Dr. Cox, I need to talk to you!"

"Speaking of Hilary's girlfriend." Perry turned around to see Turk stalking toward him. "Funny, you're one of the people I don't want to talk to, so I think I'll just be going." Carla grabbed hold of his arm, and Perry was forced to stay where he was. "What is it, Gandhi? And be warned, the only reason I didn't break you arm for touching me is because I don't feel like embarrassing you in front of your girlfriend."

"Look, I may not really understand what JD sees in you, and while this whole situation is weird, you had better treat him well."

Carla set her arm on Turk's arm. "Calm down, Baby."

Turk turned toward Carla. "You knew?"

Carla shrugged. "I wasn't supposed to; it was a bit of an accident that I found out."

"We'll talk about that later." Turk turned back to Perry. "If you don't treat him well, I will kick your ass; JD is my best friend, and I will always be there for him."

"Okay. You've done your freaky protection thing. Now, you can leave me alone."

"He's serious." Perry turned toward Carla, whose arms were crossed again. "Bambi is our friend, and you had better not hurt him because I know three people who will make you pay. You do not want a Latino woman, a black man, or a skinny white chick mad at you."

"Wait!" said Turk. "Does Elliot know too?"

Carla shook her head. "No, but she is bound to find out soon; she is already suspicious of something, and she has these freaky snooping capabilities."

Perry sighed and shook his head. "If this freakish pow-pow is over, I'm going to get back to my rounds. This is a hospital, you know." He stalked off in annoyance, leaving Turk and Carla at the nurse's station.

XVIIIIV

The next day at the hospital went by rather smoothly except for a few glares between Turk and Dr. Cox. Neither of JD's patients, Max and Caitlin, had really made any improvement, and they were still weighing heavily on JD's mind. By the time the weekend came, JD was ready for the night out at the bar Carla had planned; he was not, however, looking forward to telling Elliot about him and Dr. Cox. Carla was making him, and he did not want Elliot finding out like Turk had.

JD had tried to talk Dr. Cox into coming to the bar with him, but the older man had flat out refused.

"_Sorry, Newbie, but I do not want to spend a night out with you and your girlfriends. Gossip and Appletinis is not my idea of fun."_

The bar wasn't packed, which was somewhat surprising for a Saturday night, and JD, Turk, Carla, and Elliot were all sitting at a booth in the back. Carla, JD, and Turk were not ready for Elliot's squeal of disbelief when JD told her about him and Dr. Cox.

"You're not serious?!" shouted Elliot, leaning forward.

"Yeah."

"When did this happen?" she demanded.

"It happened right after the car wreck."

"How?"

"It's kind of hard to explain."

Elliot turned toward Turk and Carla. "You two knew about this?"

"We kind of found out by accident," explained Carla.

"And you didn't tell me?"

"It wasn't our secret to tell," replied Turk with a shrug.

Elliot turned back toward JD; it was obvious she had a million questions rushing through her head. "Why isn't he here now?"

"Hanging out with us all night didn't really sound like fun to him."

"But we're your best friends. He has to get to know us eventually."

"Give him a little bit of time."

Elliot shook her head; she was obviously still finding this entire situation hard to believe. "Does he kiss good?"

Turk slammed his hand down on the table. "I'm sorry, JD, but I really don't want to hear the answer to that. I don't want to know how Dr. Cox kisses."

"I do!" Elliot shouted in return; her face adopted a strange look when she realized what she had just said.

JD, during this exchange, had turned bright red, and Carla set a hand on his shoulder. "Just ignore them for a minute."

"I really didn't want my new relationship to be the topic of conversation the entire night," JD whispered in return.

"It won't," replied Carla reassuringly. "Turk will get weirded out pretty soon and force us to stop talking about it."

JD sighed. "At least I have that to look forward to."

Elliot and Turk continued arguing for a few minutes before Carla finally broke them up. "You guys! We are supposed to here celebrating JD's first few days back at work and the fact he didn't get hurt badly in that wreck; JD and I are not supposed to be listening to you two argue."

"You're right, Baby." Turk kissed Carla's cheek and then raised his drink. "To JD's health!"

Carla and JD both raised their glasses, but Elliot decided to add to the toast when she raised her's. "And his new relationship!"

Turk put his drink back and pointed his finger at Elliot. "Why did you have to do that?"

"I just wanted to show JD that I was happy for him."

"You don't think I'm happy for him?!" demanded Turk.

"You're not acting happy for him!"

Turk and Elliot continued arguing while JD and Carla both downed their drinks.

XVIIIIV

Perry was in a good mood, even thought it was a Monday. His day at the hospital had gone great...well...maybe not great, but decent. His day at the hospital had been better than usual. Interns and other doctors seemed to be relatively competent that day, which made his own job easier, and he'd made it through an entire day and only had to speak with Bob Kelso once. Yes. His day had been better than usual. Not to mention the time he had grabbed Newbie for in the closet.

The only major flaw in his day was the fact he was still taking the bus; the insurance company would reimburse him for his car, eventually, but until then, he was walking and taking the bus. Despite what everyone else in the world seemed to think, doctors couldn't go out and buy a new car just like that.

As Perry was headed to the bus stop, he wasn't exactly giving his surroundings the most attention, which was where he day went from decent to horrible. Before Perry could react, someone had grabbed out of his arm and pulled him into a small alley near the hospital.

"Give me your money!" shouted a man with a hat pulled down over his face and a hood up over his head; the man's most prominent feature, however, was the gun in his hand.

"Okay," said Perry. He had to bite his tongue to keep his sarcasm in check; now was not the time. Perry reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. The guy snatched it before Perry even got it in front of him.

"This is all you've got?!" demanded the guy, searching through the wallet. Perry hadn't actually brought much money with him that day, thirty bucks, and he only had two credit cars, only one of which was in the wallet. "I thought you were a doctor!" Before Perry could respond, the man was speaking again. "Give me your phone!"

Perry pulled out his cellphone and handed it to the thief; the man snatched it greedily. "You got anything else?" Perry shook his head. "God!"

Both of them heard a sudden crash from the back of the alley, but when Perry took a step forward to get a look at whatever it was, the thief apparently got nervous.

"What are you doing?" demanded the thief, waving the gun at Perry.

"I was just-" Before Perry could even finish his sentence, the thief had done the unthinkable; he'd pulled the trigger. White hot pain seared across the shoulder in which the bruised muscles had just healed, and Perry sank down against the alley wall. He had never been shot before; the pain was excruciating.

The thief was apparently startled by his own actions because without a word, the man had taken off. Perry groaned as he pressed a hand against his shoulder to slow the blood. There was another crash from the back of the alley, and Perry slowly turned his head to see what it was; a mangy black cat went running out of the alley, not even giving a Perry a glance.

"Great," muttered Perry, pressing his hand harder against his shoulder. He knew he had to get to the hospital fast, but the pain in his shoulder was practically unbearable. Pushing himself up by his legs and leaning heavily against the wall, Perry managed to get back to his feet. His head swam for a moment, and his stomach rolled violently, but Perry managed to maintain consciousness and keep the nausea in check. Readjusting his hand on his shoulder to keep the blood from seeping out faster, Perry started on his way back to the hospital.

The walk, which in reality was about about 100 yards, seemed to take an eternity. He was struggling to maintain consciousness by the time he got to the hospital doors; blood was staining the left side of his shirt.

"Dr. Cox!?" a nurse shouted as Perry stumbled into the hospital. "Dr. Cox, are you okay?!"

"_Of course I'm not okay!" _Perry thought as his mind began to dim and his knees buckled. People surrounded him as the world went dark.

XVIIIIV

I hope you all enjoyed.


	9. Chapter IX: The Plunge

Title: The Plunge

Author: Ryo314

Rating: T

Spoilers: None

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters nor the concept of Scrubs.

Summary: An accident brings Perry and JD closer...a lot closer.

Note: Thanks for all the reviews, and I'm glad you're all enjoying my story. Please read and review.

**Warning: **This is a slash story: JD/Perry. If you do not like these stories, please stop reading because all flames based on the fact this is a slash story will be cruelly mocked along with their flamer in the next chapter.

**The Plunge**

Chapter IX: The Plunge

"_Any emotion, if it is sincere, is involuntary." Mark Twain_

"So, V-Bear, are you excited for tonight?" Turk asked, throwing his arms around JD's shoulders; JD was once again going through Max Cannon's chart.

JD put the page he was looking at down and turned toward him friend. "Of course I'm excited, Turk. Three pizzas, beer, and the _Beverly Hills Cop _movies; tonight is going to be awesome!"

"The first one is so much better than the second," said Turk.

"Yeah, but the second one has some good parts." JD scratched absently at the healing scar on his forehead.

"I'm sorry, V-Bear, but your cut looks really red. Are you sure it's not gonna scar?"

"I hope not." JD thought for a moment. "If it does, do you think I'll look like Harry Potter?"

Turk shook his head. "I'm not even gonna answer that."

_JD was hurrying down the hall, carrying a wand when the Janitor leaped out with a giant snake. "I'm going to finish you for sure this time!" shouted the Janitor._

"No, you won't, Volder-Jan-"

Before JD could finish his sentence, Carla came running up to the some, breathing heavily. She grabbed hold of JD's arm to support herself and tried to speak. "JD...Perry...he...he..." Carla swallowed hard in effort to get control of her breathing. "He's in surgery!"

JD's heart leaped to his throat, and the color drained from his face. "Wha-what?"

"He...he stumbled into the hospital, and he-he was all bloody. He's in surgery now!"

Turk must have anticipated his friend's reaction because as JD's knee's buckled, a chair was shoved beneath him, and someone grabbed hold of his arm to help lower him.

"Wha-what happened?" asked JD after a moment of deep breathing.

"I talked to one of the nurses who was in the emergency room with him; she said he'd been shot."

If it was even possible, JD turned any paler. "I gotta..." JD stumbled back to his feet and would have fallen if Carla had not grabbed hold of his arm. "I gotta get down there."

"Bambi, slow down."

JD pulled his arm from Carla's grasp. "I gotta get down there." JD hurried over to the elevator, stumbling a few steps, while Carla and Turk followed closely.

"JD, you need to slow down; you're gonna pass out." Carla grabbed hold of his arm, but JD pulled it out of her grip as he turned around.

"I don't care!" JD practically shouted in Carla's face; she stepped back, shocked. "I gotta get down there."

Both Turk and Carla stopped in their tracks, and JD, who was breathing heavily from his shouting, stared at them for a moment and then got on the elevator. As soon as the elevator doors closed, JD leaned heavily against the elevator wall. The initial shock was wearing off, but the fear that was running through him was still there.

_Oh God! I can't believe this! He has to be okay! He has to be! Come on, you stupid elevator! Hurry up! Please be okay, Perry! Please!_

The doors opened up, and JD rushed from the elevator. As he was hurrying to the operating room, Elliot stopped him.

"JD, Dr. Cox is in the operating room."

"I know!" shouted JD, hurrying past his friend.

JD was lucky that no one was standing in his way as he ran because there was a good chance that he would have just knocked them out of his way. This couldn't actually be happening; Perry could not have been shot! There had to be another explanation; there had to be!

Reaching the nurse's station, JD gripped the edge of the desk tight and took several deep breaths. "Where is Perry?"

"Who?" asked the nurse obviously startled.

"Dr. Cox! Where is he?"

"Operating room three," replied the nurse. "But, Dr. Dorian, you can't go in there."

JD ignored her and hurried over to the door of operating room three. He stopped dead before the door and just stared. He knew he couldn't go in, but for some reason, standing outside the operating room made him feel better.

_Please be okay! Please!_

XVIIIIV

Part of Turk was mad...no...scratch that: part of Turk was fuming. JD had yelled in Carla's face. He didn't just yell at her, which still would have made him mad, but JD flat out yelled in Carla's face; no one was allowed to do that to Carla. No one!

The other part of Turk, however, was worried. He didn't exactly like Dr. Cox, and while he wasn't completely surprised to find out that JD _liked_ Dr. Cox, Turk was still a little wary of their relationship. Turk would kick the older doctor's ass if he did anything to hurt his best friend.

It wasn't hard to find JD; Turk had gone down to the operating rooms, and he found JD sitting in a chair outside operating room three. JD's elbows were on his knees, and he was supporting his head with his hands. To Turk, JD almost looked defeated. The angry part of Turk suddenly wasn't so angry anymore. Letting out a deep breath, Turk grabbed a chair and set it by JD. He placed his hand on his best friend's shoulder. They both sat in silence for several minutes before JD spoke.

"I'm sorry."

"You should be."

"I was just panicked."

"I understand that, man, but Carla and I were only trying to help."

"I need to apologize to her."

"Yes. Don't ever yell at her like that again. You're my best friend, but I will not hesitate to take you down."

JD laughed slightly. The laughter slowly got louder, but Turk happened to notice that in addition to the laughter, JD was struggling to wipe his eyes. Turk put his arm around JD's shoulders in effort to comfort his friend, and JD placed his hand against his eyes.

"I can't believe this," JD murmured, wiping his eyes again.

"He's gonna be okay, V-Bear. Dr. Cox still has a bunch interns to scare the Hell out of it. He'll be okay."

"Thanks, Turk."

"No problem, man."

XVIIIIV

JD sat outside the operating room for an hour and a half; Elliot had taken his patients while he waited for news on Dr. Cox. Turk had left after sitting with him for a half an hour, and Carla had taken his place; her shift had gotten over a little while before.

Carla's arm was draped about JD's shoulders, and she was beginning to wonder if the younger man had fallen asleep when the doors of the operating room opened. JD leaped from the chair he'd been sitting in for the past hour and a half, knocking off Carla's arm; she knew this time it was unintentionally.

"How is Dr. Cox?" JD demanded of the surgeon before he even managed five steps from the operating room.

"Dr. Dorian?" The surgeon studied JD carefully.

"Yes!" JD was getting frustrated; he'd just waited over an hour for any news. "Now how is Dr. Cox?"

"I'm sorry, Dr. Dorian, but I can't really tell you that," replied the surgeon.

"Urrgghhhh...." JD groaned and stomped his foot, looking very much like a five year old. Carla stood up and set her hand on JD's arm. She pulled him off to the side as the surgeon walked away; Carla struggled to hold his attention when Dr. Cox was wheeled out of the operating room. The only positive thing about it was that it seemed like Dr. Cox was okay; he only had an IV attached to him.

"Carla, I have to go with him." The nurse could tell that JD wanted to take off down the hall after the injured doctor.

"Bambi, are you or Perry ready for the entire hospital to know you're together?"

"No. Not really, but what does that have to do-"

Carla sighed. "If you go chasing after Perry right now, the entire hospital is going to start to wonder what is going on. I know Perry doesn't want that yet, and I'm pretty sure you don't want that either."

"But...I have to make sure he's okay..."

"All you have to do is go down to his room after they get him all settled in. Okay?"

JD nodded, but he was still glancing down the hall after Dr. Cox's gurney. "He's gonna be okay, right?"

Carla gave him a reassuring smile. "Of course he will be, Bambi. I'm sure he hasn't used all his girl names for you, so he has to be okay."

JD laughed a little. "Thanks, Carla."

"You're welcome, Bambi."

There was a pause between them. "I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"You should be, but I forgive you."

"I have to apologize to Elliot too."

"You really can do some damage when you're upset, Bambi," Carla murmured with a sigh.

"I didn't really mean to freak out like that. It's just-"

"I know. If Turk had been hurt, I probably could have taken down the entire hospital to get to him."

"Thanks, Carla."

Carla smiled and pulled JD into a tight hug. "You're welcome, Bambi." She rubbed his back gently as they stood there for a moment. About a minute later, Carla released him. "Now, let's go find out which room they're putting Dr. Cox in."

"Can we find Elliot on the way?"

"We should probably do that."

XVIIIIV

Even in the haze that surrounded his mind, Perry couldn't help but wonder if being unconscious was going to become a weekly occurrence. His head was killing him, nausea was barely being controlled, and there was a dull ache radiating from his shoulder. He slowly opened his eyes, but immediately shut them when the florescent lights above him assaulted his eyes. Only seconds after opening his eyes, Perry heard a worried voice from somewhere to his left.

"Perry? Perry, are you okay?" a very nervous sounding JD asked.

Perry winced at the loudness of JD's voice."_Of course I'm not okay."_ He didn't say it aloud though; from the way JD sounded, the kid might have a heart attack if he told him he wasn't okay. "Newbie, could you keep your voice down?" He slowly opened his eyes again, this time ready for the bright florescent lights. Looking to the side of the hospital bed he seemed to be, Perry saw a very pale JD leaning on his bed. "Did a ghost scare you, Michelle? Or did you just see a spider?"

Perry couldn't believe what happened next; JD laughed. The kid never laughed at his insults, at least not a real laugh; sometimes, JD would give those uncomfortable embarrassed laughs. "Do you have this new kink for abuse, Newbie?"

JD shook his head. "I thought you were gonna die."

"I plan on living forever, Newbie. So far, so good."

JD slowly reached over and picked up Perry's hand, which wasn't connected to his bad shoulder. The younger man was almost one hundred percent sure that Perry was immediately going to pull it away, but he didn't. Instead, Perry shook his head and muttered "Girl."

"What happened?" asked JD quietly.

"Some asshole mugged me," replied Perry.

"What?"

"Mugged, Newbie. Took my wallet and phone and was pissed that I didn't have any thing else."

"So he shot you?"

"No," replied Perry; his eyes began to droop shut with the effort of talking to JD. "It was because of a cat."

"You tried to protect a cat?"

Perry groaned. "Can I explain later, Emily? I did just wake up from surgery." Perry opened his eyes and then turned toward JD. "I did have surgery, right?" The older man suddenly realized he hadn't really asked about what had happened to him since collapsing in the hospital entrance.

JD nodded. "They had to extract the bullet from your shoulder." JD laughed slightly. "And to think, that shoulder just healed."

Perry shook his head. "Please don't bring that up, Newbie." For a moment, he contemplated pulling his hand from JD's, but he figured that at the moment, JD needed that comfort. Truth be told, Perry didn't entirely mind holding Newbie's hand.

"You're going to have to talk to the police," said JD.

"This I am aware of, Newbie."

"Sorry." JD looked down a bit.

"_Dammit, Newbie. Stop making me feel guilty!"_

"I just need a bit more sleep, Newbie." JD nodded and gave him a smile.

"My shift ended awhile ago, and I should probably get going. But...um...I'll be back tomorrow."

"I really can't wait," replied Perry sarcastically.

JD turned red and stood up from the chair he'd been sitting in for over an hour. Before he let go of Perry's hand or even made it a steps from the bed, Perry pulled him back to the bed. JD smiled and leaned down and gave Perry a kiss before leaving the room.

XVIIIIV

JD walked out of Perry's hospital's room with a smile on his face. Sure, their relationship wasn't perfect or even normal, but it seemed to be going relatively well. Of course, most people didn't have to deal with a mugging/shooting only a couple of weeks into a relationship, but JD was thinking that he had handle it pretty well...if his yelling at Carla and Elliot was ignored. JD was glad they had both forgiven him.

As he was walking down the hall toward the elevator, a mop handle was stuck out in front of him to prevent him from going any further.

"What were you doing in Scary Doctor's room for so long?" asked the Janitor suspiciously.

"I wasn't in there for that long," replied JD nervously.

"One hour, twenty-two minutes, and nineteen seconds."

JD's brow furrowed. "You counted how long I was in there?"

The Janitor thought for a moment. "Yeah," he replied with a nod.

"Why?"

"Because it was either keep track of exactly how long you were in Scary Doctor's room or mop the entryway."

JD just stared at him. "Shouldn't you be doing your job?"

An angry look came over the Janitor's face. "Are you accusing me of not doing my job? You know, I get so sick of you doctors-"

"I was not accusing you of not doing your job!" JD nearly shouted.

"Well...you don't have to yell."

JD shook his head and walked away from the Janitor, not really caring anymore if something bad happened while his back was turned. His day had been long even before Perry was brought in, and now, after the four and a half hours added to his day by Perry's mugging, JD was exhausted. He was pretty sure he was the only one left at the hospital (of his friends anyway). Carla and Elliot's shifts ended awhile ago, and Turk's had ended about half an hour ago. He's stopped into Perry's room, which JD could tell had been a little awkward for his friend, and ask JD if he needed a ride; JD had said he was taking the bus. Now, he was starting to wish he had taken Turk's offer; he was completed exhausted, and the thought of taken the bus was not appealing. JD couldn't wait till his wrist healed, and he could bike again.

XVIIIIV

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.


	10. Chapter X: The Rope Goes Taut

Title: The Plunge

Author: Ryo314

Rating: T

Spoilers: None

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters nor the concept of Scrubs.

Summary: An accident brings Perry and JD closer...a lot closer.

Note: I'm glad you all enjoyed the last chapter, and I hope you all enjoy this one. Read and Review.

**Warning: **This is a slash story: JD/Perry. If you do not like these stories, please stop reading because all flames based on the fact this is a slash story will be cruelly mocked along with their flamer in the next chapter.

**The Plunge**

Chapter X: The Rope Goes Taut

"_Where the determination is, the way can be found." George S. Clason_

Today was supposed to be a good day. Perry was being released from the hospital after two days, with orders to rest his shoulder and ice it daily. He was lucky that the bullet hadn't broken his collarbone or done any other major damage. After JD got off, he was supposed to go over to Perry's apartment. However, today was not turning out to be a good day; in fact it was turning into the exact opposite.

His day started going down hill when he woke up; he'd felt run down and tired. It got worse after he got to work and looked at Caitlin Howards' chart. While the inflammation in her gallbladder had gone down, the pneumonia she'd been suffering from had yet to get any better. Until then, they still couldn't go through with the surgery, which Caitlin was not going to be happy about.

Trying his best to appear optimistic, JD entered Caitlin's room. He was used to seeing her mother or father in the room in the evenings after they got off work, but during the day, Caitlin was either by herself, entertained by books, or with her older brother. Today was one of the days she was by herself; she appeared to be reading a comic book. Over her hospital gown, Caitlin was wearing a sweatshirt with Six Flags across the front.

"Hey, Cat."

"Hey, Dr. Dorian." She put her book to the side. "What is the news today?"

"Well...the inflammation in your gallbladder is gone, but unfortunately, your pneumonia isn't really healing up."

Caitlin scoffed. "I could have told you that."

"Is your chest still feeling tight?"

Caitlin nodded. "Mom won't let me forget that if I had just gone to health services, this probably would never have happened."

"We're still going to have postpone your surgery."

Caitlin sighed, and JD felt bad for the young girl. "I figured you were going say that."

"I just don't feel safe clearing you for surgery with the condition your lungs are in."

"That's probably for the better. There's no use not having a gallbladder that won't cause you pain if you're dead."

"That's morbid way of looking at it, but yes." JD looked again at Caitlin's sweatshirt. "When did you go to Six Flags."

"In October. There is one about an hour away from my college."

"That's cool."

Caitlin nodded. "Yeah. My roommate and I are planning on going back in April when they reopen."

"What was your favorite ride?"

Without hesitation, Caitlin replied, "Skycoaster."

"Is that a roller coaster?"

Caitlin laughed, which quickly turning into a hacking cough. After a minute or two of coughing, Caitlin cleared her throat. "It is so much better than a roller coaster. They put you in this harness and then hook you up to this cable, which is hooked to this huge tower. Then, they pull you back to just a few feet short of the top of the tower, and on the count of three, you pull the release cord and swing down. It is amazing! I did it with my roommate and her boyfriend."

JD smiled. "That sounds cool, but terrifying."

"It is, but it is so worth it. Every horrifying second is so worth when you swing down. For one second, you're completely weightless. It is so amazing and worth every terrifying second."

"Maybe one day I'll have to try that."

"It's worth it."

JD checked his watch and then yawned; he knew that him and Turk had stayed up a little late the night before, but he really shouldn't have been that tired. "I have to get going, Cat. Feel better."

"Thanks, Dr. Dorian."

JD gave Caitlin a reassuring smile as he turned to leave the hospital room just as Caitlin picked her book back up.

His next stop was Max Cannon's room. While Caitlin's news hadn't been the greatest, at least her gallbladder was back to "normal", there was unfortunately no goods news for Max. They'd put him on a third antibiotic, and yet it had done no good. JD was now at the point where he was going to have to give Max's parents one of their last options.

Standing before Max's room, JD took a deep breath; he was not looking forward to this. JD stepped into Max's room and gave the family a small smile. "Hey, Max," said JD quietly. "How are you feeling today?"

"My knee hurts," answered Max, "and it's itchy."

"Try not to scratch it," replied JD. "That'll just make it hurt worse." JD looked up at Dean and Hannah. "May I speak with you two out in that hall?"

Dean and Hannah gave JD a strange look but nodded slowly. They followed JD out into the hall without a word.

"Dr. Dorian," said Dean, after they were about ten feet from Max's door, "what exactly is going on?"

JD let out a sigh; he hated this part of his job. "The newest antibiotic that we put Max on isn't working, and the infection has begun to spread."

"So..." said Hannah, obviously worried, "you'll have to put him on another?"

"Mrs. Cannon, we have already tried three very strong antibiotics; I don't think trying a fourth will do any good."

"So what are you going to do?" demanded Dean. "You're not giving up, are you?" Max's father looked angry.

"Of course not," replied JD, almost insulted. "I'm here to tell you the next action to take."

"What is it?" asked Hannah.

JD took a deep breath. "I suggest we amputate Max's leg."

"What?!" said Hannah and Dean in unison.

"The infection in Max's knee has begun to spread. Antibiotics are not doing any good, and if we don't do something to fight it soon, the results won't be good."

"No," said Dean. "I will not let you amputate my son's leg."

_I won't be the actually person amputating his son's leg._

"Look, Mr. Cannon, you have heard from the nurses that your son's fever has been increasing over the last few days. His body is getting weaker, and pretty soon, his body won't be able to fight off the spread of the infection."

"I am not going to let you amputate my son's leg. There has to be something else you can do...try another antibiotic or something."

"Another antibiotic won't do any good," JD tried to get through the man's head.

"How do you know unless you try?" demanded Dean.

JD sighed. "Mr. Cannon-"

Dean put his finger in JD's face. "Look, Dr. Dorian, you try another antibiotic or something that doesn't involve cutting off my son's leg, or I will ask that my son be assigned a new doctor." Dean put his arm around his wife's shoulders and returned to their son's room without another word.

JD stood in the hall dumbstruck; he couldn't believe what had just happened. He'd told the man one of his son's few options at the moment, and the man had accused him of giving up. JD felt sick; not in the "I'm gonna throw up way," but in the "I can't believe that just happened way."

JD walked toward the hall in which Turk had found out about him and Perry a week before. He leaned against the wall and sank down to the floor. He had to think of a way to convince Mr. and Mrs. Cannon to go ahead with the surgery; if they didn't...JD didn't want to think about what could happen if they didn't go ahead with the surgery. Until then, he was going to have to think of some other way to keep the infection in check.

JD leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes. He probably should go down to get some lunch since he hadn't really eaten breakfast, he'd slept in because he and Turk had stayed up late watching a marathon of _The Gorge Lopez Show_, but at the moment, he didn't want to move from the spot he'd settled in. He was just so tired, and his body was aching.

JD didn't know how long he'd been sitting there when a loud voice startled him from his circling thoughts. It's not like it really mattered though; he hadn't really thought of anything that was going to help Max other than tying his father down while his son was in surgery.

"Hey, Matilda, what are you doing decorating that hallway with your depressed form?"

JD didn't have to look up to know who it was, but he did anyway. Perry was standing above him with his arm in a sling. "How's your arm?" asked JD quietly, pushing himself back to his feet.

"It feels like it's connected to a shoulder that was shot, and then hit against an IV pole."

"You know it wouldn't have hit the IV pole if you hadn't gotten so angry at the cops. They were just trying to do their jobs."

"There's only so many times I can tell them I didn't know what the guy looked like because his hat was pulled down over his face." Perry studied him for a moment. "Why were you crying, Lucy? Did someone use you eyeliner without asking?"

"I wasn't crying," replied JD quickly.

"Really?" said Perry. He reached forward with his good hand and touched the side of JD's face. "It's looks like you've been crying; it's a good thing you didn't wear makeup today or else it would have been ruined."

JD reached up and felt his face; he could feel the remnants of tear streaks on his face. He could feel himself beginning to turn red, mainly because he hadn't been aware of the fact he was crying. "What's going on, JD?" asked Perry. While his voice may still have had a bite to him, JD could tell the older man was concerned when he used his real name.

"It's one of my patients," replied JD quietly. "His name is Max, and he has an infection in his knee." JD took a deep breath. "All of the antibiotics I've tried so far aren't working, and the infection has begun to spread. I don't...I don't know what to do." JD leaned his head back against the wall and struggled to keep from crying; at least this time he knew he was about to cry.

Perry stepped forward and put his arm around JD's shoulders. "JD, I think you know what you have to tell Max's parents next."

JD swallowed hard. "I did. I told them that Max's leg would have to amputated to stop the spread of infection."

"So what-"

Before Perry could even finish, JD was talking again, only now, he was soundly a bit hysterical. "The dad refused. He said he would not let me amputate his son's leg. He told me to find some other way to take care of his son or else he was going to find another doctor." JD felt all the frustration that had been building up inside of him about Max's illness was suddenly being released; he felt the tears slipping down the side of his face. "I don't know what to do, Perry."

Normally, Perry would have been annoyed at JD for calling him "Perry" while they were at the hospital, but at the moment, Perry didn't have the heart to be mean to the kid. He'd make up for it later. "It's not your fault the kid's dad is a moron, Newbie."

"The kid might die, Perry."

"You just need to keep talking to him. Nail it into his head that amputating the leg will save his son's life."

"What if-"

"Keep telling him!"

JD sighed and wiped at his eyes. "Okay. What if I can't convince him? Do you think you could talk to him? Like as a second opinion...or just scare him into doing it."

"I don't think scaring a patient's father into agreeing to a surgery is really what doctors are meant to do, Newbie."

"But you'll do it, right?"

Perry replied without hesitation. "Yeah."

JD smiled and wiped at his eyes again. "He's seven years old, Perry. I can't let him die. I just...I just can't." The smile had disappeared, and the tears were coming on stronger.

Perry pulled JD closer. "JD, you're a good doctor; in no way would you just let the kid die."

The added closeness seemed to do little good for JD's shot nerves. Perry pulled JD into a tight hug, using his good arm, and kissed JD on the forehead. While Perry was never know for being the best comforter in the world, he was trying his best to help JD. He just stood there with his arm around JD as the younger man continued to try and get a hold of his nerves.

XVIIIIV

The two men in the usually empty hall didn't know that someone had come down there looking for JD because his wife had instructed him to apologize to the young doctor. He was surprised by what he saw and a little put off; he hadn't known that his son's doctor was gay. It didn't really matter, he guessed, but it still was a bit shocking. Without guying down to talk to the young doctor, the man turned around and returned to his son's room.

XVIIIIV

The day had been for too long for Perry. After JD had finally gotten a handle on his emotions, the younger doctor had gone back to his rounds, but not before a brief "goodbye". Perry then started on his way back to his apartment, but not before Carla could do her own bit of worrying about him. While he would have killed for that attention from Carla awhile ago, Perry just kind of found it annoying now, especially since he really just wanted to get back to his apartment and take a nap.

Once he got outside the hospital, Perry had begun to head down to the bus stop in hopes of catching his normal bus; he couldn't wait until the insurance company gave him the money to get a new car. Suddenly, he stopped. The memories from the mugging came back in a flood and taking the route he'd taken a few days before didn't seem like a good idea. Perry decided that heading down to the bus stop that was about a block away in the other direction was probably a good idea, and without wasting another minute, a slightly paler Perry headed off in the other direction.

The ride back on the bus wasn't horrible. Since it was toward the middle of the day, there were very few children riding the bus with their parents, so that made the ride a little more peaceful. However, the old woman who got one about three stops before Perry was supposed to get off did not make his ride change for the better. She couldn't seem to hear when the bus driver told her that her bus pass had expired. After several minutes of trying to get through to the woman, the bus driver gave up and allowed her to take a seat on the bus.

The old woman had decided that, despite the fact there were numerous empty seats on the bus, she needed to sit right next to Perry. She sat down next to him along with all of her bags. The old woman gave him a smile and then immediately began talking to him.

"Where are you headed?" she asked loudly.

"My house."

"Where do you live?"

"Hopefully nowhere near you."

The old woman either didn't hear him or was ignoring what he had said because she just continued talking. "What did you do to your arm?"

"_I_ didn't do anything to it."

"What happened?"

"I was mugged." Perry paused for a moment. Why was he even answering this old woman's questions. "Why are you talking to me?"

The old woman ignored his question again, and Perry was beginning to wonder if she wasn't hard of hearing but had a case of selective hearing. "That is awful. What did they do to your arm?"

Perry rolled his eyes; maybe the truth would get her to shut up. "He shot me."

"How horrible!" She looked out the bus window. "Could you pull the cord for me?"

Perry sighed but reached up and pulled the cord; at least the old woman would be getting off the bus.

"I hope you have someone at your house who is going to be taking good care of you," said the old woman as she gathered her bags. "Have a good evening." The old woman gave him a smile, and Perry gave him a brief smirk in return. The old woman got off the bus leaving Perry in peace.

The rest of his bus ride was rather uneventful, but even so, Perry was glad when he got back to his apartment. He unlocked the door and breathed a sigh of relief as he stepped into the apartment. Perry hadn't really wanted to tell anyone at the hospital, but his shoulder was actually bothering him. It was tender and sudden movements made the pain flair. He was just glad that he had been able to convince Carla that he didn't need a ride back to his apartment; it wasn't that he had really wanted to take the bus, but he hadn't wanted to ride with someone who was going to do nothing but ask if he was okay. He had been getting enough of that from JD over the last two days while he was in the hospital; he put up with it from the younger doctor mainly because he didn't want to have to deal with JD's "protectors" if he told the younger man off, but he was not going to deal with it from other people.

With a sigh, Perry sat down carefully on the couch, as to not hurt his shoulder, and closed his eyes. He was tired, and a brief nap was not going to kill him.

XVIIIIV

A light knocking on the door managed to wake Perry up a few hours later. With a groan, Perry pushed himself up off the couch and headed over to the door. He already knew who was going to be on the other side, but he'd locked the door so he couldn't just tell him to come on in. Perry pulled open the door and was greeted by a Chinese-carrying Newbie.

"I brought some dinner," said JD, giving Perry a tired, half-hearted smile. It was obvious that he still hadn't completely recovered from earlier that day.

"And how many fortune cookies did you have them to your order?" Perry opened the door all the way, and JD walked into the apartment.

JD turned slightly red. "I didn't ask for extra cookies." He held the bag of Chinese food tighter. "They just like to give out a lot of fortune cookies."

"Sure they do, Lynn," muttered Perry as he went to the kitchen to grab some silverware. Coming back into the living room, Perry saw that JD had set the food on the coffee table and sat down on the couch. His head was leaning against the back of the couch, and his eyes were closed. "Ah....does someone need a nap?"

JD opened his eyes and slowly sat back up. "Um...I'm...I was up late last night."

"Were you and Gandhi painting each other's nails?"

"Watching _George Lopez_," muttered JD with a yawn.

Perry shook his head and set his good hand on JD's shoulder; he was surprised by the warmth it had. "Hey, Patrica, have you been taking care of yourself?"

"Of course." JD yawned again.

"Then why does it feel as though you have a fever?"

JD shrugged. "Your apartment is warm?" He paused, and Perry saw JD furrow his brows with his eyes closed. "I jogged here?"

"Really?" asked Perry sarcastically.

The younger doctor shook his head. "No."

Perry sighed. "Carol, be honest, how do you feel?"

"Tired."

"Maybe you should get some sleep?"

JD opened his eyes and sat up. "But I said I would come over tonight; I don't want to leave."

Perry sighed. "I didn't say you had to leave, Newbie. I may have been thinking it, but I didn't say it."

JD seemed tired enough that he didn't seem to completely grasp what Perry had just said. "Huh?"

Perry shook his head. "Get up, Carly."

"Are you making me leave?" JD pushed himself up using his good hand.

"No," replied Perry. "I'm making you sleep. Now come with me."

JD followed Perry to his bedroom and sat down on the bed when the older man told him to. He yawned as Perry pushed him back onto the bed, and he was asleep only seconds after his head hit the pillow. Perry rolled his eyes and then used his good arm to remove JD's shoes.

"Newbie, if you tell anyone about this I will hurt you."

Perry then returned to the living room to gather up the Chinese food and put it in the fridge before it went bad. Today had not gone exactly as he had planned.

XVIIIIV

I hope you all enjoyed the Chapter. I'm off to try and pass my CS class. Wish me luck.


	11. Chapter XI: The Swing Across

Title: The Plunge

Author: Ryo314

Rating: T

Spoilers: None

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters nor the concept of Scrubs.

Summary: An accident brings Perry and JD closer...a lot closer.

Note: I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter and this one. My finals are all over, and my break has officially started. Yay for me!

**Warning: **This is a slash story: JD/Perry. If you do not like these stories, please stop reading because all flames based on the fact this is a slash story will be cruelly mocked along with their flamer in the next chapter.

**The Plunge**

Chapter XI: The Swing Across

"_No man or woman of the humblest sort can really be strong, gentle, and good, without the world being better for it, without somebody being helped and comforted by the very existence of that goodness." Alan Alda_

JD woke up feeling confused; he was in a bed, but it was not his own. In addition to laying in a strange bed, he was still fully clothed, so part of him was sure this hadn't happened of his own accord. JD slowly sat up and looked around; he still wasn't one hundred percent sure where he was and decided that he probably had to leave the room to figure it out. He got up from the bed, which made him aware of several aches in his body, and headed to the door.

After stepping out into the hall, JD knew exactly where he was, and his memory returned of how he got there. He'd gone to Perry's after work with a bag of Chinese food, and if he remembered correctly, he'd fallen asleep on the couch. Why had he fallen asleep on the couch? More importantly, if he had fallen asleep on the couch, how did he get into Perry's room? Stumbling through the apartment, JD found Perry sitting on the couch half asleep, watching TV.

"Um...Perry?"

Startled, the older man sat up straight and looked around for the source of the voice. He shook his head and then turned back toward the TV. "Did you have a nice a nap, Sleeping Beauty?"

"How did I end up in your room?" asked JD, confused.

"You walked," replied Perry. "You didn't walk very well, but you walked."

"Okay." JD rubbed his temple. "Why did I end up in your room?"

"You really have no memory of earlier?" said Perry, flicking off the television and tossing the remote to the end of the couch.

JD thought to himself for a moment. "Kinda?"

Perry rolled his eyes. "You do realize your sick, Newbie, don't you?"

JD scoffed. "I'm not-I'm not sick." He tried to ignore the cough that was building in his throat and the aches all through his body.

"Really? Because the last time I checked on you, you had a fever of 101.2."

JD reached up for his forehead, neglecting the fact he wouldn't be able to tell it he had a fever because his hands would be as warm as the rest of his body. "I don't have a fever." He paused for a moment; obviously something had caught his attention. "Wait! You were checking up on me?"

Perry winced as he realized what JD had just figured out. "No! I wasn't "checking up" on you." JD crossed his arms, but had to immediately uncross them when he began coughing. "You alright, Newbie?" Perry slowly stood from the couch and made his way over to the younger man. He set his hand on JD's shoulder and let out a silent sigh of relief when he found JD's shoulder cooler than it had been earlier. "Newbie, speak! Or at least stop coughing."

JD coughed one last time and then responded. "I'm alright. It's just a tickle."

Perry rolled his eyes. "Don't ever say that again, Lois."

"Why?"

"Because it reminds me that I am dating a girly boy."

For most people, it would have been considered an insult, but JD had grown used to Perry's comments. The fact he used the word "dating" in the insult was proof enough that Perry really cared about him. "Look, I really appreciate your concern, but I'm not sick."

_I probably am sick, but I don't want to be sick. I've already missed those four days of work, and with Caitlin and Max...I'm not sick._

"It doesn't really matter whether you believe you're sick or not, Gloria. You are. Think about, most of your patients at the moment are suffering from some sort of pneumonia or bronchitis or some flu. That, coupled with your accident a coupla of weeks ago and the stress from that one boy's case-"

"His name is Max," JD corrected Perry, somewhat angrily.

Perry said something he seldom ever said to anyone, especially JD. "I'm sorry. That, coupled with your accident and the stress from Max's case, has weakened you immune system. You're a doctor, whether you act like one all the time or not, and you know all that. Newbie, you're sick."

JD's shoulders slumped in defeat. "I know." He sat down on the couch and sighed in relief when pressure was taken off his aching body. "I can't not go to work though."

"Yes. Going to work while sick and spreading germs to your patients is the best way to care for people, Newbie. Great thinking."

JD rolled his eyes. "Perry-"

"You're not going in to the hospital tomorrow, Gillian. You're going to stay here and get some rest."

"Who's going to cover my shift? I can't ask Elliot; she already works tomorrow."

Perry rolled his eyes. "I'm going to cover your shift."

JD was shocked. "You can't be serious. You just got out out of the hospital today. You can't be feeling up to working a shift. You need to rest."

"I have had enough "rest", Newbie. I just spent the last two days laying in a hospital bed, and as much as I would like to stay away from the building which contains Bob Kelso, you need to get some rest."

"You're not supposed to go to work."

"I'm not supposed to work my shift," corrected Perry. "No one said anything about me working your shift."

JD rolled his eyes. "I really don't think that is going to work."

"Well that doesn't really matter because you're sick. Don't make me tie you down just so you'll rest."

JD laughed, which turned into a brief cough, before responding. "I didn't realize you liked kinky things like that, Perry."

Perry groaned. "Newbie, I'd go the bedroom and throw you down on the bed if I didn't want to catch whatever you've got."

"What about your shoulder?"

"Screw my shoulder."

JD laughed and then rested his head on Perry's shoulder. "I don't want to catch what you have, Rita."

"Than push me off."

Perry sighed but did not shove the younger man off. They both sat there for close to half an hour before either of them spoke.

"You want some of the food you brought over, Chloe?"

JD, who had apparently dozed off, sat back up and looked around the living room confused. "What?"

"You want some of the Chinese food you brought?"

JD nodded and then tried to get up from the couch. After missing the edge of the couch to push himself up, JD fell back.

"Just stay here, Newbie. I'll go heat up the food."

JD nodded and stayed on the couch while Perry went to the kitchen and heated up the food JD had brought. He mind often drifted to his and JD's relationship whenever he was doing tasks that required little thought. Perry would often struggle to keep his mind from the relationship; he was afraid that if he over though the situation his mind would change. Perry was surprised, however, that whenever he did start thinking about the relationship the more sure of it he was. Normally, whenever he thought about the relationship he was in the more unsure of it he became. Maybe, just maybe, things were going to work out.

XVIIIIV

Perry had woken up the next morning on the couch. His shoulder was stiff, but it was a fair trade, considering he probably would have woken up sick had he slept in his own bed. He'd made JD sleep there because he was pretty sure that if he'd allowed the younger doctor to go home, JD would have found a way to get to the hospital the next morning. Most of the night, JD had tried to convince him that he was fine, but Perry had not changed his mind. The younger man was not going to work the next morning.

The worst part of the night was getting JD to get some sleep. When Perry had told him that he was going to sleep in his bed, a goofy smile had appeared on his face, and JD had asked if Perry would tuck him in. It was bad enough that Perry was allowing the younger man to sleep in his bed by himself, but he was not going to tuck JD in.

The confused looks of all the doctors and nurses who knew he'd just been released yesterday (which was nearly everyone) were beginning to annoy him, and he quickened his pace to make it to the nurse's station. He needed JD's charts, and Carla would know which ones those were.

Upon his arrival at the nurse's station, Perry saw Carla's eyes go wide.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, quietly as if saying it loudly would get Perry in trouble.

"I am covering Yolanda's shift."

"Why? Where is Bambi? He didn't come back to the apartment last night. Turk was pretty worried." Perry didn't have to Carla say that she'd been worried too to know that she had.

"He's sick," replied Perry. "Probably caught something from one of his flu patients."

"So where is he?"

Perry looked down at a stack of charts on the station. "Are these Newbie's charts?"

"Where is he, Perry?" Carla crossed her arms and gave Perry a death stare.

Perry sighed. "He's sleeping back at my apartment. Don't worry; he's got Tylenol and water and juice. He'll be fine."

Carla smiled. "Aaaahhhhh! You're taking care of him!"

"Please be quiet."

"Still, what are you doing here? What about your shoulder? You're not supposed to be working."

"Correction. I'm not supposed to be working my shift; no where does it say that I can't work Newbie's shift."

Carla shook his her head. "Dr. Kelso is not going to be happy about this."

"Bob Kelso can shove it up his ass."

"What exactly is 'it' this time, Perry?" Perry turned around and saw Bob Kelso, giving him a smug smile with his arms crossed. "I believe last time it was your foot. Perhaps this time it is your bad shoulder which you shouldn't be at work with?"

"I'm covering another doctor's shift," explained Perry.

"That's odd. It seems that you're covering one doctor's shift while I have another doctor covering your's. What is wrong with that? Hhhhhmmmm.....Maybe it's the fact that you're supposed to be recovering, and you could cost the hospital money if something went wrong while you were still recovering. Do you want to cost this hospital money?"

"Only if it comes directly from your wallet, Bobbo."

Dr. Kelso glared at him but continued talking. "I am going to allow you to stay considering it will more of a hassle to call another doctor in than to let you stay and because I like seeing you working while in pain, be it physical or mental, but I had better not see you here tomorrow." Dr. Kelso stormed away without another word.

"You're lucky he likes seeing you in pain," said Carla, gathering up a stack of charts.

"Oh yes. I'm so lucky." He turned toward the nurse. "Can I have Newbie's charts?"

Carla handed Perry a stack of charts. "I'd watch out for a couple of the patients. They seem to be Bambi's favorites, and they're not doing too great." Carla sighed. "If you could get that Howards girl to eat, every nurse on this floor will thank you."

"Why isn't she eating?"

"Gallbladder problems and pneumonia; you try getting someone like that to eat."

Perry nodded, gathered the charts and walked away from the nurse's station. His first stop would be Max Cannon's room. If he remembered correctly, Max was the young boy that JD was so worried about. Perry was hoping that he would be able to catch the young boy's parents in hopes of talking to them about the surgery. According to Max's chart, JD had started him on another antibiotic, but from the looks of the other antibiotics, this one did not look promising.

Perry entered the boy's room but was disappointed when he didn't see the boy's parents. All he saw was the young boy laying back on the bed, watching cartoons. His face was pale, but there were red spots on his cheeks; it was obvious the young boy had a fever.

"Hello, Max," said Perry, sounding a little unsure; he seldom dealt with children in the hospital. "I'm Dr. Cox."

"Where is JD?" asked the boy quietly.

"He'd not feeling well today, but he'll be back by tomorrow." Perry looked around the room. "Where are your parents?"

"My dad had to go to work, and my mommy is getting coffee." The boy looked out the window and then back toward Perry. "Dr. Cox, JD keeps telling me I'm gonna be okay, but I don't feel like I'm getting better." Max sighed. "Am I going to be okay?"

Perry suddenly understood exactly what JD was going through; no wonder the kid was so stressed out. Judging by Max Cannon's chart, if they didn't do something drastic and soon....

XVIIIIV

JD was staring at the ceiling of Perry's bedroom; he couldn't really believe this. He was laying in Perry's bed because the older man wouldn't allow him to get back to his own apartment; apparently Perry thought that he wouldn't get any rest if he went back to his own place, which was probably true. Before the older man had left, Perry had brought in some water, juice, and medication; JD was actually surprised by how much care Perry was giving him. The young doctor couldn't really believe that Perry could be quite so "caring." Yes, the man was a doctor, but caring wasn't exactly something that often appeared in the older man's nature.

JD rolled over, feeling whatever bug that had grabbed him renew its hold on him, and closed his eyes. He was tired, and just in the twenty minutes he'd been awake, what little energy he'd gained from his earlier nap was gone. Within a few minutes, he'd fallen back asleep.

XVIIIIV

The day was not going exactly as Perry had expected it to, although he hadn't really thought too much about how the day was going to go. After not finding Max's parents in the boy's room, Perry had gone about dealing with the rest of JD's patients. A majority were suffering from some sort of sinus problem, be it bronchitis, pneumonia, or the flu; in fact, there were only three patients that weren't in the lung problem category, Max, an older woman who was suffering from breast cancer, and an old man who'd had a heart attack.

The next stop on Perry's list was Caitlin Howards' room. According to her chart, her pneumonia wasn't getting any better, which was continuing to postpone her surgery. The only good thing that Perry could say was that her pneumonia hadn't gotten any worse. Of course now that she was no longer really eating, her health would soon begin to decline again.

Stepping into the room, Perry found Caitlin staring up at the TV; she didn't look as though she was really paying much attention to what was on. She sighed when Perry entered the room and turned toward the doctor.

"You're not Dr. Dorian," the girl said quietly. It sounded more as she though she was pointing out a fact than anything else.

"No. I'm covering for him today."

The girl coughed. "Is he okay?"

"He's come down with the flu or something."

Caitlin nodded. "That time of year. Before I left school, it seemed like everyone was coming down with something."

Perry nodded and looked at the girl's chart. There wasn't much new that she could tell her about her health; it hadn't really changed in the last few days. "Um...well..." Perry hated this; he was seldom at a lost for words with patients.

"No change."

Perry looked up at the girl; she looked tired more than she looked sick. "Yes. There doesn't seem to be any change."

"Figures."

"You know, you might start getting better if you ate more."

"I don't really feel like eating...anything." She adjusted herself in her bed.

"I didn't really ask if you felt like eating."

Caitlin turned toward him. "What?"

"I didn't ask if you felt like eating. You're not doing your health any good by not eating, and according to the nurses, you haven't really eaten in two days." Perry looked around the room and saw the touches of a mother trying to make the room more 'homey'. "You're not really helping your parents by not eating either."

"I'm just...I'm just not hungry." She adjusted herself again and turned off the television.

Perry sighed; he didn't really want to deal with a moody teenager. "Look, it doesn't really matter if you're "not hungry." That IV isn't going to give you all the nutrients your growing body needs." The end of his statement got a little sarcastic, and Caitlin looked down at her hands. "_Dammit! She's almost as bad as Newbie."_

Perry sighed and ran a hand over his face. "Is there anything you can think of that you would like to eat? I can see if someone can get it for you."

The girl sat there for a moment and then looked back up at Perry. "Chai tea."

"Excuse me?"

"Chai tea. It feels great on a sore throat, and..." She looked back down at her hands. "It's relaxing."

Perry sighed; he really was not enjoying today. "If I get you some...chai tea, will you drink it along with whatever else I bring you."

Caitlin sighed, but Perry had a feeling he'd won. "Okay."

Perry left the room, happy that he'd won, until he realized he had to track down chai tea. Carla had better know what the damn stuff was.

XVIIIIV

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and I hope that you all read and review.


	12. Chapter XII: The Arc

Title: The Plunge

Author: Ryo314

Rating: T

Spoilers: None

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters nor the concept of Scrubs.

Summary: An accident brings Perry and JD closer...a lot closer.

Note: Thanks for all the reviews. Please read and review this chapter too.

**Warning: **This is a slash story: JD/Perry. If you do not like these stories, please stop reading because all flames based on the fact this is a slash story will be cruelly mocked along with their flamer in the next chapter.

**The Plunge**

Chapter XII: The Arc

"_Anyone can become angry. That is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose and in the right way-that is not easy." Aristotle_

JD was sitting on Perry's couch when the older doctor returned to his apartment; from just one look at the man, JD could tell that his day had not gone well.

"Um...how was the hospital?" asked JD, before coughing into the back of his hand.

Perry grumbled. "Do you know what chai tea is?"

JD stared at him. "What?"

"Do you know what chai tea is?"

JD shook his head. "No, but it's probably on the menu at the coffee shop."

"It is, but I didn't find that out till I was twenty minutes into my lunch break, and it is all one of your patient's fault." Perry didn't notice the slightly guilty look on JD's face as he continued on in his rant. "The Howards girl apparently hadn't eaten in a coupla of days because of discomfort, so Carla told me to try and talk her into eating. The only way she would eat is if I found her chai tea. I didn't even know what the Hell that was until today! By the time I found some and got a nurse to take it back to her, she was asleep! The girl had fallen asleep!" Perry let out a frustrated sigh and collapsed onto the couch.

"Did she eat?" asked JD quietly.

"Oh yeah," replied Perry. "She ate."

"Is she okay?" This time, JD's voice was even quieter. Perry turned toward him and saw that JD was looking down at his hands.

"What?"

"Is Caitlin okay? I knew she hadn't been eating well before I got sick, and I've been trying to get the nurses to get her to eat. It's not really doing her health any good."

Perry suddenly felt like an ass. It wasn't JD's fault that his patients were annoying; it was his fault that he was annoying, but not his patients. "She's okay, Newbie." Perry wasn't looking forward to the next bit of news he had to give the younger doctor. He sat down next to the younger man and let out a groan. "I need to talk to you about something."

JD let out a defeated sigh. "That was fast."

Perry was confused. "What was fast?"

"You're breaking up with me. I mean, it's not like we were going out for very long, but-"

"Melissa, I'm not breaking up with you!" Perry shook his head and rubbed his temple; he felt a headache beginning to form.

"You're not?"

"No. Granted, I'm nuts for dating you in the first place, but I'm not breaking up with you."

"Oh." JD sat up straighter on the couch. "Then what did you need to talk about?" JD seemed perfectly willing to forget about what he had just said, and Perry was all too happy to oblige.

"JD." He felt the younger man tense beside him; he knew that "JD" was associated with something serious...or bad news. "This is about Max Cannon."

JD took a deep breath. "Did you talk to his parents?"

"I never saw his father, but I talked to his mother."

"And?"

Perry sighed. "It was like talking to a brick wall."

"She didn't listen?"

"She wasn't comfortable discussing it without her husband around."

JD groaned and than slapped his knee. "Dammit!"

Perry was actually a little surprised to hear JD swear. "Language, Amita! Language!"

"They have to listen; Max needs that surgery!"

Perry set his hand on JD's shoulder. "I know, Newbie. It's not your fault or the boy's fault that his parents are morons."

JD sighed and leaned his head back on the couch. "I have to convince him to go through with the surgery; Max will...Max will..." It was obvious that the young doctor didn't want to think about what was going to happen if the boy's parents didn't agree to the surgery; no doctor did.

JD leaned forward again and rested his elbows on his knees. "I put him on another antibiotic. Is it doing any good?"

Perry could tell from the pleading look on JD's face that he was praying for good news. His goal used to be to make the goofy smile disappear from JD's face, but at this moment in time, Perry would give anything to put the goofy smile on his face.

"It's not doing any good, Newbie."

JD closed his eyes and let a sigh escape through his nose. "I figured that."

Perry really wasn't looking forward to what he had to say next. "JD, Max had to be moved to the ICU today."

JD turned toward him and shook his head several times. "No! He wasn't that bad the other day! He-He-"

"His fever spiked today, and he had to be moved."

JD shook his head and stood up from the couch. He grabbed hold of his head, began shaking his head, and started pacing the room. "This can't be happening! He's seven!"

Perry stood from the couch and walked over to the young man. He set his arm around JD's shoulders, but JD immediately shoved them off.

"You know this isn't you fault, Newbie." Perry reached out and tried again to set his hand on JD's shoulder.

"I'm his doctor! I'm supposed-"

Before JD could finish his sentence, Perry had cut him off with a hard kiss, wrapping his good arm around the younger man's waist. For a moment, JD stood their completely motionless; apparently, the abrupt kiss had stunned him. JD, however, did not stay motionless for long. He wrapped his arms around Perry's neck and started to return the kiss.

The kiss finally ended, and Perry stared at JD for a moment. "Come on," he said, taking hold of JD's arm and pulling him towards the bedroom.

"What about you shoulder?" asked JD. He didn't put up any resistance however.

"What shoulder?" replied Perry as he pulled JD into the bedroom and closed the door. Apparently Perry had changed his mind about catching what JD had.

XVIIIIV

The next day was rather uneventful, except for both Elliot and Carla managing to figure what had gone on between Perry and JD the night before. They said it was because of the big, goofy smile he had planted on his face. Elliot had spent several minutes just letting out a girly squeal while Carla had promised not to let anything slip to Turk, from either of them. As JD had said, "that would make things really awkward between them."

The following day did not go as well. Perry had come back to work, and he'd agreed to try and speak with Dean Cannon if JD wasn't successful in convincing the man to allow his son to go into surgery. Unfortunately, Max, already having been moved to the ICU, was running short on time for his parents to bicker with his doctors. Even the newest, which was also the strongest, antibiotic was having no effect on the infection.

It was obvious from the expression on JD's face when he walked into the break room that his conversation with Max Cannon's father had not ended in his favor.

"What happened?" asked Perry, turning off the soap opera he'd been watching and standing from the couch.

"He said no, again. He said no to the surgery and accused me of giving up on his son. I'm a doctor, and he accused me of giving up on his son!"

Perry set his hand on JD's shoulder. "You know you're not giving up on Max, Newbie! You're a good doctor."

JD groaned and sat down in a chair. "I know. I know. I just-I just..."

Perry shook his head and grabbed hold of JD's arm. "Come on."

"Right now, Perry?" said JD, a little surprised.

Perry rolled his eyes. "Not that, Haley. We're going to go _talk_ with this kid's dad." Perry paused for a moment. "Where is he?"

"He was going to get coffee in the cafeteria after I spoke with him; his wife was staying with Max."

Perry let out a deep breath. "Come on, Newbie." He'd let go of the younger man's arm, but he hadn't slowed his pace, JD was practically running to keep up with him. Like JD had said, Dean Cannon was sitting at one of the tables in the cafeteria slowly sipping at a cup of coffee. It was obvious to Perry that his son's illness was taking a toll on him, his face was pale and unshaven and there were bags under his eyes, but at the same time, he still wasn't doing all he could for his son. Perry slowed his pace, allowing JD to catch up, but continued toward the man.

"Are you Dean Cannon?" asked Perry, crossing his arms; JD stood to the right of his good shoulder.

"Yes," replied Dean, looking a suspicious of the two men.

"We need to talk to you about your son Max."

Dean squinted his eyes. "Who are you?" He turned toward JD. "What's going Dr. Dorian?"

"I...umm....I called Dr. Cox in as a second opinion....sorta." JD was about to shrug, but that probably wouldn't make him look too sure of himself.

"Okay." Dean turned toward Perry. "What's your opinion, _Dr. Cox_?"

"That you're a moron."

Dean's jaw dropped, and he slammed his coffee cup down on the table. He jumped to his feet and leaned across the table. "What?!"

"You're a moron," repeated Perry.

"Excuse me? You can't talk to me like that! I want to talk to-"

"Listen to me," said Perry, interrupting the angry man. "You're son is seriously ill. The infection in his knee has begun to spread to the rest of his body, and the antibiotics are doing nothing."

"Why not?"

JD decided it was his turn to jump in. "Some infections are immune to antibiotics." Dean Cannon glared at him, and JD decided it was best not to talk anymore."

"Do something else then," said Dean, turning back toward Perry.

"Dr. Dorian told you what needed to be done, and you refused to give permission."

"I'm not letting some doctor hack off my son's leg!" Dean had practically shouted.

Perry shook his head. "He will die." The three words were spoken quietly and with no emotion, but their meaning was clear none the less.

Dean opened his mouth, and JD was expecting him to shout again. However, a much different sound escaped the distraught father: a sob. At first, it was only one, but another followed and then another. Pretty soon, Dean Cannon was lowering himself back to the table while tears spilled down his face. "I know...I know..." Dean repeated over and over. JD suddenly felt terrible for the man.

It took a few moments for Dean Cannon to calm down and collect himself, and after wiping his eyes several times, he turned back to Perry and spoke. "I can't cut off my son's leg. I can't."

"With the location of the amputation, he can eventually get a prosthetic leg and learn to walk just as well as he does now, but not if he's dead."

Dean Cannon closed his eyes and wiped at a few stray tears that were making their way down his face. The man took a few deep breaths but slowly nodded his head. "Okay. Okay."

JD let out a sigh of relief he didn't know he'd been holding and stepped forward. "We'll make sure your son is stable and prep him for surgery." JD paused for a moment. "Do you want to explain the situation to Max or-"

Before JD could finish, his pager went off. He held up a finger to indicate to Perry and Dead that he needed a moment; his heart nearly stopped when he saw the display of the pager. "Oh God," JD muttered quietly. He took off running without another word, and Dean and Perry were forced to follow.

"What's going on, Newbie?" demanded Perry as they ran up the stairwell; apparently, the elevator was not going to be fast enough.

"Max!" JD shouted as a response. That was enough to get Dean Cannon running in a near sprint.

By the time the three men reached the room in the ICU unit, chaos had erupted in Max's room. Nurses were swarming around the bed, and a doctor had a crash next to the bed.

"OH GOD!" shouted Dean, attempting to rush into the room to his son. JD and Perry had to hold the man back as he cried for his son. He screamed Max's name every time the doctor attempted to revive him; his wife was also being held back on the other side of the room by a couple of nurses. The scene went on for what felt like an eternity before the doctor put down the paddles and called it. Max had died at 1:27.

Both of Max's parents cried as they stood at the side of Max's bed, and JD and Perry quietly left the room to give the two grieving parents some solace. JD couldn't help but notice before he left that there was a completed Rubix Cube on Max's bedside table.

XVIIIIV

JD was leaning against the wall, rubbing his temples. A few hours earlier and they could have saved Max's life. Hell! If he had just convinced Dean Cannon on his own instead of waiting for Perry, Max would still be alive. JD was in the middle of another ridiculing thought when a shadow appeared over his face; he opened his eyes and saw Perry standing in front of him.

"JD, this wasn't your fault."

JD closed his eyes and shook his head. "I don't want to hear it right now, Dr. Cox."

Perry winced when JD used "Dr. Cox" instead of "Perry", even if they were at the hospital. "JD?"

"Not now." JD pushed himself away from the wall and began walking down the hall. "I've got other patients."

Perry grabbed hold of his arm to stop him, but JD yanked it from his grasp and continued on. This did not make Perry happy. "Stop right there, Cindy." JD stopped. "We need to talk." He was practically speaking through clenched teeth.

JD slowly turned around and glared at Perry. "What? You've always told me to distance myself from the patients, so I am trying to do just that. Just let me get back to work."

At this point, Perry was starting to get worried by JD's attitude. "JD, look, I know what happened to Max-"

"What happened to Max? What happened to Max?" JD was fuming. "He died, Dr. Cox. He died because according to his dad, I didn't care enough. Who knows? Maybe I didn't. I certainly wasn't very good at convincing his father to go through with the surgery. Maybe I didn't care!"

"JD," said Perry, stepping forward. "You don't believe that."

"Don't tell me what I believe," said JD, shaking his head several times.

Perry sighed; this was not going well. He took another step toward JD and attempted to set his arm around JD's shoulders. That did not make the younger man happy.

"Don't touch me!" shouted JD.

"Newbie, you're being unreasonable!" Perry was talking through his teeth again. He set his hand on JD's shoulder to try and stop the younger man from walking away, but JD turned around and shoved the older man away. In return, Perry shoved JD back, using his good arm, and the younger man fell hard against the wall. Unfortunately, another person had entered the hall during the altercation.

"What the Hell are you doing?" shouted Turk, running up to help his friend back to his feet.

"Stay out of this, Gandhi," said Perry angrily.

"Don't you dare tell me to stay out of it," retorted Turk, taking a step toward Perry. "You're freaking beating up my best friend! I actually thought you cared about him!"

Perry stepped threateningly toward Turk, and the other man step forward too. JD stopped his friend by grabbing hold of Turk's arm.

"Forget it, Turk. I've got rounds." Both Perry and Turk were surprised when JD walked away without another word.

XVIIIIV

Perry was standing at the nurse's station, running a hand over his face when someone shoved him from behind. The person must have been pretty small though because he wasn't even thrown off balance.

"I can't believe you!" shouted an all too familiar voice; he was not in the mood to deal with Elliot.

"Look, Barbie, I don't know what fucked up version of the story you've heard, but I am not in the mood to listen to you bark at me for what I did to Newbie. You got that?" Perry turned around, expecting for Elliot to running in the other direction, but she was still standing there glaring at him. "What?"

"How could you?" she demanded. "I thought you cared about him."

"Don't start with me, Barbie, unless you know the whole story."

Elliot faltered for a moment. "You-You hit him?"

Perry shook his head. "I shoved him."

Elliot's head titled slightly. "Like that makes it better?"

"He shoved me first." Perry shook his head. "Why am I explaining this to you? This is between me and Gail. Not me, Gail, and all her girlfriends. Get out of my face. Go fix your make up or something."

"You know what, _Dr. Cox_? When you started dating JD, I couldn't really believe it. Mainly because I can't really see you with anyone and I always thought you couldn't stand JD. Also, it was because I thought you were too much of a jerk to deserve someone nice like JD, but I believed him when he said things were going well. You know what? I was right to think you were a jerk."

"That's enough, Elliot."

Perry and Elliot turned around to Carla standing behind them with her arms crossed.

"But...but..." The blond repeated.

"That's enough!"

Elliot groaned and stomped her foot but walked away none the less. She did her best to shoulder check Perry as she left.

"Thanks," said Perry with a sigh.

"I wasn't doing it for you," said Carla angrily. "I was doing it for Elliot and for Bambi. I don't want them to get embarrassed because of gossip. She was right though. You're a jerk. I actually thought Bambi would be good for you, and look what you did."

Perry shook his head and walked away; he couldn't stand listening to anyone anymore.

XVIIIIV

JD was trying his best to push his feelings to the back of his mind and just deal with the rest of his day, but it was obviously from the constant "Are you okay's" he was getting from nearly everyone he'd encountered that he wasn't doing as good a job as he hoped. Taking a deep breath, JD put a smile, which he hoped looked real and not as fake as it felt, and entered Caitlin Howards' room; she was reading another book while the television was on mute. He should have been happy-Caitlin was finally improving-but he couldn't get Max off his mind.

Caitlin set down her book when JD entered the room and gave him a tired smile. "Hey, JD. What's up?" She paused for a moment and studied him. "Are you okay?"

JD wanted to laugh and cry. How did everyone know?! "Um...Yeah...I'm just a little stressed."

"Drink chai tea. I think it does wonders."

JD nodded. "I'll keep that in mind." He looked at her chart. "I've got some good news for you. Your pneumonia is starting to go away, and with any luck we can get you into surgery at the end of the week. We should have you home next week."

Caitlin smiled. "I'll be home for Christmas."

JD was a little surprised; with all the stress from work, he'd practically forgotten that Christmas was coming up. "Yeah."

Caitlin looked at him. "I was starting to get scared."

"Scared? What about when you did that SkyCoaster thing?"

"That was nothing. I had a harness. This...being in the hospital...there's no harness for that." She shook her head. "I yelled at my mom the other day. I feel so bad about it now, but I was just so scared." JD could swear he saw Caitlin wipe away a tear. "She'll be so happy. I don't know what I would have done if I was on my own."

"Aren't you on your own at school though?"

Caitlin shrugged. "Yeah. I guess, but it's different. College isn't tough like these. You need people there for you when things aren't going right. It sucks to have to handle it on your own." Caitlin scoffed and shook her head. "I yelled at my mom when she was only trying to help. I apologized, and she said it was okay. Sometimes it's hard to accept help when you're upset and scared."

JD suddenly felt like an ass. "Yeah.

"Thanks." Caitlin said with a smile. "I can't wait to tell my parents."

"You're welcome," said JD. He swallowed hard when he felt a knot beginning to form in his stomach.

XVIIIIV

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I am enjoying my winter break. (I am enjoying my break a lot). There are only two chapters left.


	13. Chapter XIII: The Grabbing of the Loop

Title: The Plunge

Author: Ryo314

Rating: T

Spoilers: None

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters nor the concept of Scrubs.

Summary: An accident brings Perry and JD closer...a lot closer.

Note: I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and if you live somewhere cold, I hope you all keep warm. It feels like it's ten below here in midwestern Illinois.

**Warning: **This is a slash story: JD/Perry. If you do not like these stories, please stop reading because all flames based on the fact this is a slash story will be cruelly mocked along with their flamer in the next chapter.

**The Plunge**

Chapter XIII: The Grabbing of the Loop

It was late, but Perry couldn't sleep. It was no surprise that his fight between him and JD was still weighing heavily on his mind; the glares and arguments he'd had to deal with from Carla, Turk, and Elliot were also weighing on his mind. His sling was lying on the far end of the couch, and a glass of scotch was on the table in front of him. Perry was about to reach for the glass and take a drink when a knock on the door interrupted him. With a groan, Perry pushed himself up and walked toward the door; his bad arm was tucked against his stomach.

Perry was shocked when he opened the door; the last person he expected to find at his door at one in the morning was JD, at least after their fight. "What are you doing here, Wendy? You want to fight some more, or did you come to argue and glare? I got a decent amount of that from your girlfriends today."

JD turned red, and he stared down at his feet. His next words came out as a mumble.

"What?" asked Perry. "I can't quite hear you."

JD sighed and looked up at the older man. "I came to apologize, Dammit!"

Perry smirked but was none the less satisfied. "Come on in, Newbie."

JD nodded and walked into Perry's apartment. Judging from the pajama bottoms and the shoes that weren't quite all the way on his feet, JD had been trying to go to bed when he'd decided to make his early morning trip to Perry's.

JD sighed as he paced across the living room, and Perry watched with morbid satisfaction. He knew that any moment, JD would start rambling. Sure enough, after a few more paces across the living room, JD started rambling.

"I'm so sorry I shoved you and yelled and was such an ass. It's just...it's just...I thought...I thought...with Max's death and...and..." JD wiped at his eyes and tried to continue. "With Max's father...and I tried...I didn't...I don't..." Before JD could manage to finish his sentence, Perry had wrapped his arms around the younger man and was trying his best to get him to calm down; he didn't know how well he was doing considering he seldom hugged people.

After a moment, JD wrapped his own arms around Perry's waist, and although the younger man was doing his best to muffle it, Perry could hear him crying. He wouldn't bring this up again; he would never make fun of JD for it. He would pretty much never bring this moment up again unless JD did first. Right now, he just wanted the young man to get out the emotions and guilt he was feeling from Max's death.

XVIIIIV

"I can't believe you," said Turk. He and JD were eating lunch in the cafeteria. "He hit you, JD."

"He shoved me," corrected JD. "And I shoved him first. I was angry, and Dr. Cox was just trying to help me."

"I still don't like the idea that you and him are going to keep...you know...being together."

JD shook his head. "Did you and Carla break up after one thing went wrong?"

"I didn't hit Carla!"

"He shoved me! You were there!" JD sighed. "Do you really think that if I thought Dr. Cox was going to continue to do things like that to me I would stay with him?"

Turk shrugged his shoulders. "No." He sighed and took a bite of his lunch. He swallowed before he continued talking. "I just don't want to see you get hurt, V-Bear."

JD nodded. "I know, Chocolate Bear. I won't."

Turk sighed and shook his head. "I don't like this, JD, but I know you're smart enough to make the right decision. If he even lays a hand on you again, I'm kicking his ass."

JD just stared at Turk, and the other man realized the way his words had come out. "You know...lays a hand on you to hurt you...You know what I mean."

JD laughed. "Yeah man. I know."

JD took a bite of his own lunch, and the two men sat in silence for several minutes eating their lunches. It was JD who broke the silence.

"Thanks, Chocolate Bear."

"You're welcome, Vanilla Bear."

XVIIIIV

JD was very surprised with how well everything had gone so far that day. After talking with Turk about the whole Perry situation, JD had officially spoken to all his friends about what had happened. While Carla was the only one who seemed "okay" with JD still being with Perry, Elliot and Turk were no longer looking to tackle Perry every time he walked down the hall; neither of them seemed too happy with the older doctor, and even Carla still seemed a little put off by Perry, but all of the anger was slowly dissipating. Even after JD had told them had Perry had not flat out just "attacked" him, they still didn't seem too keen on the older doctor.

The young doctor's day had gotten even better when he'd received the results of Caitlin Howards' latest tests; her lungs were clear, her blood work was good, and surgery could finally be scheduled. He was practically skipping down the hall as he made his way to the young woman's room.

_She is going to be so happy! I wonder if she'll smile so big that her lip piercing will pop out? I wonder if that is even possible? I wonder if it'll hit me in the eye? I wonder what hurts worse: getting hit in the eye with a stud piercing...thingy or getting your lip pierced?_

JD's string of thoughts accompanied him all the way to Caitlin's room, and he was surprised to find another person with her. She was normally on her own during the day, and her parents came after work; sometimes one of them would stay the night with her. Today, however, an older guy, twenty-five at the most, with thinning hair and over sized clothes was leaning against the wall. Caitlin was talking to him, but he didn't seem too interested in the conversation.

JD knocked on the door frame and gave Caitlin a smile when she turned toward him. "Hey, Cat! How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling good," replied Caitlin. She pointed to her nose. "No more breathing thingy." She gestured toward the man leaning against the wall. "This is my older brother Luke. Luke, this is Dr. Dorian."

JD was about to move forward to shake the brother's hand, but Luke gave him a half-hearted wave as a greeting instead. JD sheepishly stepped back and then turned back to Caitlin. "I have some good news for you. Everything seems to be clearing up, and we can schedule you for surgery to get your gallbladder out."

"Really?" A huge smile appeared on Caitlin's face, but the stud in her lip did not pop out and hit him in the eye. "When?"

"Whenever you think is best," replied JD.

Caitlin's smile grew even bigger. "Did you hear that, Luke? I get to have my surgery!"

Luke gave her a limp thumbs up. "Yippee."

Caitlin shook her head and sighed. "Luke doesn't express emotion," Caitlin explained to JD. "Can I wait till my parents get here tonight to schedule surgery?"

"Of course," replied JD. "You let me know when they're here, and I will bring in the doctor who will be working on you."

Caitlin's smile got bigger. "Great. Thanks."

"No problem." JD gave Caitlin and Luke a wave as he left the room. For the first time in several days, since Max's death, JD felt good. That was until someone shoved him into the wall. Looking up, JD saw a very distraught Dean Cannon staring down at him.

"You bastard!" said Dean menacingly. "You killed my son!"

"Mr. Cannon, what is going on?" JD pushed himself back to his feet.

"What is going on?" mimicked Dean. "What is going on?! You killed my son! My only son! That is what's going on!" By now a crowd of people had formed around the distraught man and the shocked doctor. One nurse was calling hospital security.

"Look, Mr. Cannon, I know losing your son-"

"What does a fagget like you know about losing a son?" demanded Dean, taking a step toward JD. The young doctor was shocked; how the Hell did Dean Cannon know anything about him? "Yeah, that's right. I saw you and that doctor you said you called in for a second opinion kissing in the hall. You're nothing but a fagget, and you killed my son!"

Dean launched himself at JD, but a mop was suddenly shoved between them, stopping the distraught father. "No one messes with Scooter but me," said the Janitor, looking very dangerous with his mop.

Dean back up a few feet but continued glaring at JD. "Just wait till I get my hands on you, you little fagget," said Dean, continuing to back up. "And I will."

"Will you now?" The voice was low and menacing, and it had come from directly behind Dean. The father turned around and stared at a very angry Perry. Before Dean Cannon could do anything, Perry had punched the man across the face; Dean crumpled to the ground without a sound.

Perry leaned down very close to the stunned Dean Cannon and spoke through tightly clenched teeth. "I suggest you stay very far away from him if you want all your body parts to remain attached, understand?" Perry didn't even give the man a chance to respond before he stepped over the crumpled Dean.

"Are you okay?" Perry asked JD, taking hold of JD's shoulders.

"Yeah," replied JD. "I think...I think I am." His voice may had sounded relatively calm, but his entire body was shaking.

By this time, hospital security had showed up and were pulling Dean Cannon to his feet to escort the distraught man out of the hospital. Perry was taking pains to make sure that JD was not facing Dean Cannon as he was being lead out. The older doctor put his arm around JD's shaking shoulders and started leading JD away from the commotion. On their way to the lounge, Perry spotted Turk staring at them. At the moment, he was not looking forward to listening to Turk yell at him some more, and he quickened his pace. Perry was stopped when Turk stepped into their path.

"Yes, Gandhi?" demanded Perry. He glanced over at JD; he still looked pretty shaky.

Turk took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I guess...I guess I didn't realize..."

Perry shook his head; they didn't have time for this. "Let's do this later, Gandhi, or freaking follow us or something."

Turk nodded and fell into step with the two other doctors.

XVIIIIV

"Are you sure you're okay, Vanilla Bear?" Turk asked, staring at his friend who was sitting on the couch with his head leaning against the back.

"I'm okay," JD replied with a sigh. "All he did...all he did was shove me." He didn't really want to talk about being called a fagget in front of the hospital; it wasn't the exact way he wanted everyone to find out he was also interested in men or his relationship with Perry.

"What about what he called you?"

_Dammit!_

"I'm okay, Chocolate Bear. It was-it was more of a shock than anything else."

"He was just a crazy guy, JD. You don't need to listen to anything he said."

_He wasn't crazy; he was upset. Is that better?_

"I'm not, Turk." JD sighed. "I should probably get back to my rounds."

"You don't have to worry about them."

"Why?"

"Elliot's covering them."

JD nodded. "I was wondering why she wasn't in here freaking out. Who convinced her to cover my patients?"

"I think Carla had a lot to do with it."

JD nodded. "She's probably one of the few people who could convince Elliot not to come running right in here."

As if on cue, Elliot came running into the lounge followed by Carla, who was shaking her head, and Perry, who was carrying a cup of something.

"JD, are you okay?" demanded Elliot, sitting down on the couch practically on JD's lap.

"I'm alright, Elliot."

"Are you sure?"

JD sighed. "Yes, Elliot. I'm sure."

Perry shook his head and made his way over to the couch. "Here, Newbie." He handed JD the cup he'd brought with him.

"Bambi, I don't mean to wear the question out, but are you alright?"

While he knew his friends were worried about him, JD was getting annoyed with being asked the same questions. "Yes, Carla. I'm okay."

"Good. Because if you weren't, I would go have to kick that guy's ass."

Elliot laughed. "I think Dr. Cox already took care of that. I heard one of the security guards saying that the guy was claiming Dr. Cox had broken his jaw. I guess he didn't realize he wouldn't be able to talk if you'd broken his jar."

"I wish I had." JD was the only one who heard Perry say it, and the younger doctor found part of himself wishing that Perry had broken the man's jaw also. He took a drink from the cup that Perry had brought him and watched as his friends continued to talk.

"I think he needs to press charges," said Elliot, standing up from the couch and going to get a drink of water from the sink.

"That's for JD to decide," Carla retorted. "Besides, I don't even know if he can press charges."

"I'll take care of the bastard if JD can't press charges," said Turk, crossing his arms.

Perry, however, didn't seem to want to take part in all the arguing, and he took Elliot's seat on the couch. He put his arms around JD's shoulders and allowed the younger man to rest his head against him.

"Are you sure your alright, Newbie?"

"Pretty sure." It was easier to be honest around Perry; he was less likely to baby him.

"Do you want to press charges?" JD could hear a hint of anger in the older man's voice and could feel him tighten his grip around his shoulders.

"I don't know. The guy was just upset. He lost his son."

"He tried to attack you, Anna."

JD sighed. "I know."

_Is it wrong that I don't care about the attack? I don't care that a guy was ready to punch me in the face, but I care that I was called a name?! Perry calls me names all the time...But I was called a fagget. I never thought I would be called a...a fagget._

"He called me a fagget," JD said just loud enough for Perry to hear. The older man didn't say anything, but he did tighten his grip around JD's shoulders.

XVIIIIV

"Look, Newbie, I know almost everyone has asked you this, and I'm included in that group, but are you sure you're okay?" Perry was pouring himself a drink and watching JD who was sitting on the couch staring blankly at the television.

"Yeah," replied JD. He turned around and gave Perry a small smile. "Why?"

"Because you've hardly said anything since we got here, and while I normally would enjoy the silence, I'm...I'm actually kind of worried about you."

JD shrugged. "It was a stressful day."

"You do realize that it's okay to be upset about what happened today."

JD sighed. "I know. He was upset about Max."

"That doesn't make what he did okay. He assaulted you."

"It's weird. I'm kind of okay about Dean Cannon trying to attack me." JD ran a hand over his face.

"You are?"

"It's what he called me. I'm not naive." Perry laughed. "What?"

"Nothing. Go on."

JD stared at Perry for a moment, and then continued talking. "I'm not naive. I know there are people out there who...who wouldn't like the fact that you and I are dating." JD made a mental note to cheer for joy later that Perry said nothing when he said 'dating.' "I was just...I guess I was just shocked when-when he called me that." JD was really sick of thinking of the word.

Perry nodded and then made his way over to the couch as JD turned back toward the television. The older doctor sat down on the couch and set his free hand on JD's leg. "JD, you don't have to worry about anyone who tries to hurt you or calls you anything along the lines of Cannon did."

"I don't?" Perry nodded. "Why?"

"Because I will kick their ass." He gave JD's knee a squeeze as he took a drink.

JD laughed. "You can't kick everyone's ass."

"Sure I can."

"How?"

"I'm Dr. Cox. I can do anything." He squeezed JD's knee again and then grabbed the remote which was on the other side of JD. "That includes changing the channel to something not girly, Katrina." He gave JD a smug smile and flipped the channel. Perry didn't say anything when JD leaned his head against his shoulder. He did, however, give a grunt of a response when he heard the younger man give a mumbled "thank you."

XVIIIIV

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading.


	14. Chapter XIV: The Unhook

Title: The Plunge

Author: Ryo314

Rating: T

Spoilers: None

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters nor the concept of Scrubs.

Summary: An accident brings Perry and JD closer...a lot closer.

Note: Well, everyone, this is the last chapter. I sincerely hope that you enjoyed my story, and that you all have a wonderful holiday season.

**Warning: **This is a slash story: JD/Perry. If you do not like these stories, please stop reading because all flames based on the fact this is a slash story will be cruelly mocked along with their flamer in the next chapter.

**The Plunge**

Prologue: The Unhook

Time hadn't exactly flown by, but the next week or so went forward without much incident. Caitlin Howards got her surgery, which went very well, and was discharged two days afterwards. New patients came in, old patients were discharged, and life started to get back to normal. Perry's shoulder had healed up, and the cast around JD's wrist had been replaced by a brace. Charges weren't pressed against Dean Cannon, much to Turk and Elliot's dismay, but it did seem as though JD was recovering from being assaulted, even if it was more of a mental recovery than anything else.

JD was pretty excited; it was December 23rd, and he, Turk, Elliot, Carla, and even Perry had made plans to celebrate Christmas. It had taken a lot of work to convince Perry to go to celebrate with him and his friends; Perry had originally said he was going to stay his own apartment while JD was with his friends. JD finally had to tell Perry what he was giving him for Christmas for Perry to agree to go; the gift involved JD wearing a red ribbon and not much else.

JD was returning to the nurse's station after talking with one of his patients; the patient was an elderly woman who had been expressing concerns about having to stay in the hospital over Christmas. He sympathized with the woman, but there wasn't much he could do considering she'd had heart surgery two days before.

After leaning against the nurse's station for a moment, JD started playing with the Christmas decorations. He was doing a condensed version of the Rudolph story and had just gotten to the point where Santa Clause was asking Rudolph to lead the other reindeer when someone tapped him on the shoulder. JD nearly jumped sky high, and he was trying to get his heart rate back to normal as he turned to see who was behind him. Carla stood there with a smirk on her face, shaking her head.

"I think you would be a huge hit down in pediatrics."

"Do you think I could draw out the story a little bit? Maybe I could add an alien?"

"Whatever you like, Bambi." Carla patted him on the shoulder. "While you were doing your rounds, someone came up and dropped these off for you." The nurse handed JD two envelopes, one green and one red. Neither of the envelopes had anything on them that indicated where they were from; one said "Dr. Dorian" and the other said "JD."

"Who left them?" asked JD, looking intently at the envelopes.

Carla shrugged. "Don't know."

JD was about to open them when his pager suddenly went off. After looking at the display, JD shoved the envelopes in the pocket of his scrub top and went to where the pager said.

XVIIIIV

JD didn't get around to opening the envelopes while he was at the hospital. After his pager went off earlier that day, he hadn't had much of a chance to sit down. Now, he was sitting on Perry's couch, shaking his head as Perry yelled loudly at the players on TV. JD had tried to get into the game, but after cheering when the team Perry hated scored, the older man informed him that it would be better if he was silent.

It took a few minutes of staring at the screen before JD remembered the two cards. He got up from the couch, which Perry didn't even seem to notice, and made his way over to where he dropped his backpack. Perry had been telling him to stop leaving his bag by the door like a twelve year old, but JD had yet to listen. He unzipped the bag and pulled the two cards. JD walked back to the couch, sat down, and opened the green card; it was the one that said Dr. Dorian.

"Can you not drop all that paper on the floor, Janet?"

JD smiled sheepishly and picked the scraps of paper up off the floor. He set them on the coffee table and went back to seeing what was in the envelope. Inside was a single piece of lined paper about the size of a medium notebook. He pulled it out and began to read.

_Dr. Dorian,_

_I had my wife drop this off because I figured someone would have _

_me thrown out of the hospital if I tried to deliver this myself. What_

_I did and what I said was inexcusable. I was distraught about Max's _

_death, which does not serve to excuse my actions, and I took it out _

_on the wrong person. Max's death was no one's fault but my own._

_I was trying to be a good father, but that effort cost my son his life_

_It upsets me greatly, but it is something that I will have to live with._

_What I said to you and what I did were horrible, and I hope one day_

_you can forgive me. It will be awhile before I can forgive myself. You_

_are a great doctor. It was my mistake for not seeing it. Unfortunately,_

_it is not a mistake I can fix._

_Dean Cannon_

JD slid the letter back into the envelope; he was stunned. After seeing the distraught man at the hospital, this was the last thing he had expected. JD leaned back on the couch and tossed the card onto the coffee table. Perry noticed and muted the television.

"Who's the card from?" asked Perry, turning toward JD.

"It's from Dean Cannon," replied JD, "and it's not a card."

"What?!" Perry yelled; it was obvious Perry was still furious with the man. He got up from the couch, and JD suddenly realized that Perry was ready to go after the man.

"Perry, calm down! It was an apology letter!"

Perry stopped and stared at JD. "What?"

"It was an apology letter." JD picked up the envelope and handed it to Perry. The older man pulled the letter out and scanned it quickly. After a moment or two, Perry slid the letter back into the envelope and drop it onto the coffee table. He shook his head and ran a hand over his face.

"I need another drink." Perry went to fix himself a scotch.

For a moment, JD stared at the letter on the table. He then remembered the second one. He picked up the red envelope, the one addressed to "JD", and ripped open the envelope. Inside this one was a Christmas card with a cardinal on the outside. Confused, JD opened the card. One side of the card was a long note written in purple pen, and on the other side was a taped ticket. JD started reading as Perry sat back down on the couch.

_Dear Dr. Dorian,_

_I guess the outside should have said Dr. Dorian too, but I kind of forgot_

_and just called you what you said I could call you. This card is a bit_

_of a thank you. Thank you for making the stay in the hospital seem_

_shorter. You never once let me think that I wasn't going to get better, _

_and you don't know how grateful I am for that. Adrenaline rushes I can_

_handle, but hospitals scare me to death._

_I guess I got you a Christmas present (I hope you celebrate Christmas). _

_If you don't, it's a holiday present. Not far from here is a Skycoaster. They_

_are awesome, and everyone should give it a try. Taped inside here_

_is a ticket to it. You can use it whenever. When you think you can,_

_go fly (I'd wait till it gets warm). Thanks again._

_Merry Christmas _

_(or Happy Holidays),_

_Caitlin_

JD pulled the ticket from the card and slid it into his pocket. He set the card on the coffee table next to the other envelope and leaned back. Perry noticed the second envelope and turned to JD.

"Is that another letter from Cannon?"

JD shook his head. "No. It was a Christmas card."

Perry seemed to let out a sigh of relief, which if JD asked about he would deny, and set his drink back on the coffee table. "Who's it from?"

"Caitlin Howards," replied JD. "She was the girl-"

"Who wanted that damn chai tea," Perry finished. He shook his head.

"Did you want a card from her?" asked JD jokingly.

Perry rolled his eyes. "You know what I want?"

"What?"

Perry slid his arm around JD's waist and pulled him close. "I want that Christmas present that you promised me," replied Perry, before giving JD a rough kiss. He pushed the smaller man back on the couch, and the kissing went on for several minutes. JD finally pulled away when things started getting serious; both of them were now shirtless.

"If I give you your present early, I won't have any way to bribe you to go to Christmas with me."

Perry laughed and kissed JD again. "What a shame that would be." He began kissing JD again as his hand went down to unbutton JD's jeans. "Besides, I think we could probably come up with another way for you to get me to hang out with your girlfriends for a night."

JD laughed, but was quickly giving in to Perry's ministrations. "Yeah," said JD, his breathing starting to get quicker. "We can come up with something else."

XVIIIIV

JD had gone back to the apartment early to help Carla set everything up; she managed to get Christmas Eve off because another nurse was trying to rack up hours. Turk had to work till around seven, and Elliot had come over with JD. Perry was trying to avoid coming until he really had to; JD had thought of another bribe to get the older doctor to celebrate the holidays. JD was wondering if he was always going to be able to use bribes on Perry.

"Hey, Bambi?" said Carla as she stirred something she was cooking on the stove.

"Yeah, Carla?" JD and Elliot were trying to put some garland on the tree, but apparently he was not doing it to her liking.

"JD, you have to put that up higher!" instructed Elliot before Carla could ask her question.

JD sighed and put the garland closer to the top. "What do you need, Carla?"

"Who were those cards from that you got yesterday?"

JD almost fell into the tree; he was surprised to heat that question. He wasn't nervous about telling them about Caitlin's Christmas card, but he wasn't sure how they would feel about Dean Cannon's apology letter.

"One was a Christmas card from that Caitlin girl who was discharged last week."

"That was nice," said Carla with a smile.

Elliot reached up to "fix" the garland that JD had just placed. "None of my patients ever got me a Christmas card."

Carla and JD remained silent, hoping that Elliot would go back to hanging the garland.

"Who was the other one from?" asked Carla after a moment. JD didn't reply; he just continued to hang the garland. "JD?"

"What?"

"Who was the other card from?"

JD sighed. "It wasn't exactly a card."

"What was it then?" asked Elliot.

"It was an apology letter....from Dean Cannon."

Elliot dropped the ornament she was rehanging in a "better" spot, and Carla immediately stopped what she was working on at the stove.

"They let that son of a bitch back into the hospital!?" Elliot practically yelled, while Carla made her way from the kitchen area to the Christmas tree.

"You're not serious, Bambi?"

"Yeah. It was an apology letter that he had his wife deliver."

"What did it say?" demanded Elliot loudly; Carla slapped her arm lightly. "What? I want to know!"

Carla shook her head. "Are you alright?"

This was another reason why JD hadn't really wanted to tell them about the letter; he hadn't really wanted them to worry about him when they were supposed to be celebrating Christmas.

"I'm fine," replied JD. "Really. It was just an apology from the guy...for everything."

"Even the-" Elliot started, but JD cut her off.

"Yes. Even that. Now can we get back to get ready. It's Christmas Eve."

Elliot and Carla both looked as though they wanted to continue with the subject, but from the look on JD's face, both woman refrained from asking anymore questions about the subject. JD went back to hanging garland on the tree. After a moment, Elliot tapped him on the shoulder.

"What?"

"You need to hang that part a little higher." Elliot gave him a sheepish smile.

JD sighed and "fixed" the garland.

XVIIIIV

Perry couldn't believe it; he was sitting on the couch at Newbie and Gandhi's apartment while Newbie and his girlfriends "celebrated" Christmas. He himself was definitely not "celebrating"; Perry was sitting on the couch with a beer watching as Carla tried to get Elliot to stop fussing with the Christmas tree.

"It's looks fine, Elliot," Carla muttered, using both hands to rub her temples.

"It would look better if JD hadn't been so lazy with the garland." Elliot studied the tree for a moment. "And if we moved this ornament over here." Elliot reached forward to take hold of an ornament shaped like a cardinal, but Carla grabbed it before she could get it.

"Carla, why did you do that?"

"Elliot, I'm only going to say this once more nicely: leave the tree alone. It looks fine." She gave Elliot a smile. "Go enjoy yourself. It's Christmas Eve."

Elliot looked at the ornament and then at the tree. She bit her lip, and her hand reached toward the ornament in Carla's hand.

"Touch it, and I will bite you."

Perry, who had been taking a drink of his beer at that moment in time, choked on the drink he'd just taken and coughed loudly. Carla and Elliot looked over at the older doctor and saw that, mixed in with his coughing, was laughter.

Elliot shook her head and went back to the kitchen; Carla watched her for a moment and then hung the ornament back on the tree. JD sat down on the couch next to Perry.

"Thanks for coming," said JD quietly before taking a drink of his own beer.

"You owe me."

"Oh come on. You're having fun."

Perry shook his head as he took a drink. "In your dreams, Sylvia."

"Admit it, Perry." JD slapped his leg.

"Yeah," said Carla, taking a seat on the arm of the couch. "Admit it, _Perry._"

Perry glared at Carla before taking another drink; there was a ding from the kitchen, and Carla jumped from her spot.

"The chicken is done!" She hurried to the kitchen, leaving Perry and JD on the couch.

Despite the apartment being full of JD's friends, the younger doctor laid his head on Perry's shoulder. The older doctor grunted and shook his shoulder a bit to try and knock JD off but did nothing else about the younger man.

"I mean it."

"Mean what?" Perry took another drink.

"Thanks for coming. This means a lot to me."

Perry shook his head. "There is only one reason I am here, Newbie."

JD sighed. "Because I bribed you with sex."

"I did not need to hear that, V-Bear," Turk shouted from the kitchen as he helped Carla get the dinner ready; Elliot was trying to help, and Carla and Turk were both trying to stop her.

Perry shook his head. "I guess there are two reasons I'm here." He looked over his shoulder to the kitchen and then back to JD. "You tell anyone this, and I will deny deny deny." Perry smirked. "I love you," the older doctor whispered.

JD smiled, but managed not scream out in joy. "I love you too," JD replied quietly. He set his head back on Perry's shoulder. "Merry Christmas."

"Ba humbug," Perry responded as he set his arm around JD's shoulders.

_**Finem **_


End file.
